


Onlooker

by Veluren



Series: Ripples Into Waves [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, Character Death, Original Character - Freeform, Rotating POV, also really bad at tagging, cringy writing at times but oh well, feelsy stuff, first fanfic, first person narrated, seriously lots of OCs, true ending spoilers near the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5100677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veluren/pseuds/Veluren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One century later and people already treat the war against monsters as a myth. A young scholar, not wanting to see history turn into myth and leave people vulnerable, goes in search of the resting place of monsters with a book his only companion, and finds a strange new life after a moment of foolishness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Youthful idiocy

**Author's Note:**

> Post Update: So, it's been two months since I posted this work and it's sat for a while as I've expanded this AU, I'm going to go back through and fix some errors and change some stuff, as well as state my thoughts on how things have turned out.
> 
> It was a rough few steps into the world of Fanfiction, but I've been a writer for years so thankfully I was able to stay consistent? I dunno, it's weird looking back at my old work, but I'm proud of it.

Curiosity, you know what they say about it... when did that become a saying anyway?

Er, right, story.

It starts a long, long time ago. It had been one century and a few years since the war against Monsters ended, people didn't live super long back then, not like today with medicine and healthcare, two generations had already lived and many of them had died, those that hadn't were old men venerated as elders of our small villages.

Ah – before we continue – I should mention that the years have changed my appearance, at that age I still wore youth well, five foot seven, gaunt features, rather slim and with your standard black hair, all in all I was average for what you'd expect from someone of that generation.

Anyway, even despite the short time compared to now, the war was already starting to fade from public memory, people like me, the scholarly sorts, as well as the elders of the war, knew that if there wasn't some defined proof that the war would fade into myth and if monsters ever returned, we wouldn't be ready for it. So I, at sixteen years of age – a grown adult by all intents for that era – made my way to Mt. Ebott to record the truth, a quill, inkwell and a notebook my only companion.

For all my book smarts, I was rather an idiot.

The journey was long and not terribly easy, Mt. Ebott's reputation had lent itself well to being the type of place nobody would venture to, it made it a favorite hideaway for those who lived on the fringe of morality, more than once I had to pay off cutthroats demanding a toll, and when I ran out of money I had to pay in supplies. I went from having food and drink for a week to just the clothes on my back and my literary tools.

As I found my way up the mountain, I found markers in the stone and a rough pathway leading me to a massive, yawning abyss of a hole in the mountainside. “This... this looks like the entrance.” I said to myself. Even despite believing the stories, I still, well, didn't entirely, so I put my head down into my book to read what the elders had told me about this place. “The seven mystics sealed Monster-kind under a barrier after driving them deep into this cavern, here in this cave mouth... I think it-” I hadn't realized until it was too late that I had been walking as I read, into the cave, until the rush of energy that was completely alien to me caught me off guard.

“Oh no...oh nonononono.” I turned around and dropped my book, the path I had just come through, the setting sun, was being muffled by a massive tunnel that wasn't there before, a gray light rushing down it. I had just distracted myself so thoroughly by reading about the barrier that I had unknowingly walked through it.

Smart, huh?

I immediately slammed against it, “No! Come on, let me out! I'm not a monster!” I screamed, hoping that the barrier had some form of semi-sentience that would let me out if it knew I wasn't what it was supposed to be trapping. I beat against it for around ten minutes and screamed myself hoarse before I slid down it on a final hit.

Scared out of my mind, trapped in the realm of monsters who would want me dead, I huddled up, I wasn't ready to die, not like that. As the sun set and the last peek of twilight faded over the world, I was plunged into darkness in that cavern. Time passed and I breathed in and out, I wasn't going to die like this, I told myself, I refused to. I didn't know what to do next though, dare I walk further in? Risk my life to maybe find a weakness in the barrier elsewhere? Before I had made up my mind, my feet were already carrying me deeper into the darkness.

I was scared out of my mind, I was worried about dying, but I kept the hope of finding a way out, and it gave me determination.

As I walked, I saw more light illuminating the path ahead of me. Slowing my steps to a crawl I walked forward, through a smaller mouth I looked in the sight ahead of me and my mouth dropped. There was a volcanic font beneath me bubbling with magma, it looked like the pissed off mouth of hell itself.

After I picked my jaw off the floor, I started taking in the area and noticed a small path off to the side, carved in the shape of a stairway. Surely the mystics wouldn't have taken the time to do that, but were monsters capable of chiseling? I shook my head and proceeded downward.

The path took me down around the caldera, the convection heat was awful, I was thankful I chose to wear a robe, someone in armor would be miserable moving through this. As I reached the end of the path I felt the area cooling down, which struck me as odd since I was still moving deeper, logic would have told me it would have gotten worse.

I still don't know how the underground has biomes laid out like this, even all these years later.

The sound of rushing water and a cool spray greeted me as I left the volcanic area, after that heat it felt nice to have a cool rush of water. As I walked, I noticed the place was freakishly well lit for an area that actually looked like a cave, glancing up I saw crystals embedded on the ceiling, creating the light of a clear, star-filled night. “These roofs are lovely, aren't they?” Another voice spoke out to me, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard it, I thought I had been discovered by a monster.

I spun around to see a large blue flower, as tall as a child, propped up behind it me, its petals were rustling and repeating that sentence. “What is this?” I said, looking into the flower. The flower stopped abruptly, and its petals began to rustle in a different pattern, “What is this?” It said back to me in exactly my voice.

Those echo flowers still creep me out at the best of times even today, by the way. Doesn't help when someone thinking they're funny puts one that says “Behind you” at a dead end path.

I walked forward, eventually hitting a lip and falling into some ankle-high water with a loud splash. I saw a hallway lined with echo flowers in front of me, each one saying something different, and one beside me that had caught my fall, the embarrassingly high-pitched scream I made, and the sound of the splash, “Oh shut up!” I said to it, “Oh shut up!” It said back.

I crawled back onto dry land and sat down “Unbelievable, I'm having a war of words with a flower, how long have I been down here anyway?” I looked up at the sparkling roof, time had lost meaning without the sun to guide me... is this what the monsters were forced to live with? I thought to myself.

As I sat there looking up, the day's weariness caught up to me, I realized how tired and hungry I was, and the bandits outside had taken all my food. I let out a loud groan as I cupped some water from the rivers into my hand, I looked at it through the light of the crystals, “It's... so pure, safe to drink, I hope.” It tasted like the best drink I'd ever had, even though it was just water. Was it the rocks purifying it? The echo flowers? I wasn't sure, I just drank until I felt somewhat sated. “Still hungry.” I muttered to myself as I walked into the last room so the echo flower's talking wouldn't keep me up, as I sat, I put my hands on the ground. I felt something slimy and immediately yelped again, not a monster, just a snail.

“A snail.” I said to myself, “Ohhhhh, _really_?” I said half-whining, half-exasperated as my stomach groaned at me.

Yeah... I uh, got used to the way they taste, actually kind of like them now.

As I prepared to go to sleep, I took out the only belongings I still had on me, my book, my inkwell, and my quill, and I wrote.

_“Dear diary: I'm an idiot, an absolute idiot. I came searching for proof of monsters, of the barrier and the war, needless to say I think I have reason to believe it all now. I walked through the barrier and learned that it doesn't care what you are, it's not going to let you out._

_I've walked I don't know how far, all I know is that if I slipped, I would have taken a very hot bath, and now I'm in a cave that looks like a night sky._

_I consider myself lucky that I haven't found a monster yet, if they've been living in these conditions for over a century, they'll try to kill, I'm sure of it, grudges don't go away._

_I've found food... awful as it is, I swear these snails are smiling at me like they have a consciousness, doesn't make it any easier to eat them, but I have to do what I must._

_I'm not going to die down here, if I have to go deeper to find a way out I'll do so, and if I encounter a monster I... oh who am I kidding, I'm going to die down here._

_And, if a monster with a mind finds this book, please don't destroy it, it's the only thing I'll be remembered by.”_

I closed my book and put it in the top of part of my robe so it wouldn't get wet if I had to wade to progress when I woke up. I huddled in the back of a small cave and let the sounds of running water soothe me to sleep. I had to stay determined.

\- End of Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-Update: Looking back I feel like I could have fluffed this chapter some more, maybe actually shown Ral getting shaken down and how much his situation sucked, but oh well, maybe some day in the future I'll come back and sneakily edit that in.


	2. Cold and Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picking up from where we left off, this is where stuff starts to pick up

It hadn't been long, I don't think, before I woke up. At first the cool spray of the water and the humidity felt good on my skin, but as I woke from my dream I realized I was freezing, it didn't help that I had fallen into the stream and didn't remove my wet clothing before dozing off. But still, I was thankful to be quenched and full.

Even if just thinking about eating more snails made me want to throw up.

I gathered my strength and went forward, my eyes had long since adjusted to the false light of the caverns. I looked around at the narrow path that led through water, it was the only way through that I could see. I didn't know how to swim, but remembering earlier, it was only about knee-deep so I should be fine. Gathering myself, I stepped forward.

“No, I don't think so, if we want to be remembered, we should... I don't know, chisel our history on the walls.” I heard come from an echo flower, I pursed my lips, feeling like I caught the tail end of a conversation as I continued.

“Do you think we could leave our history in an echo flower?” One a little down the way said, I nodded silently as I reversed the conversation, “Preserving their history... looks like if they're doing it though, they haven't started yet.” I noted as I continued to wade to dry land.

The next room was as black as pitch, the crystal stars weren't glowing in this room, instead a small ambient light shone through crystal formations on the ground. Using them to guide my way, I tried desperately to not trip over the low walls of the room. In the next room.

...ugh.

I fell face first into some soft weeds, and upon looking up the room lit up and I saw it, my first monster, a little weird cat thing with amazing hair and a smile, I just blinked and we stared each other in the eye for a long while. Slowly, surely, I stood and looked at the monster, I reached out to touch it, it seemed harmless enough, just staring at me, then it spoke.

“hOI, I'm TeMmIE!!” It said loud enough to echo off the walls of the cave.

Okay, so Temmie maybe isn't the most visually horrific monster in the world, try telling that to a teenager who had never seen one. I uh, may have screamed, really loud, and proceeded to run and jump over a massive gap, and just kept running.

By the time I had settled down, I realized I wasn't in the caves anymore, the area had opened up massively, and I was suddenly freezing. “You have to be joking!” I said as I looked out on the area, it just went further down, the caves opened into a massive dome, crystal stars still lighting up the sky over a massive, snowy forest.

“I'm going to die.” I re-affirmed as I shook my head.

“Warmth, I need warmth before anything.” I walked over to the tree and grabbed at some loose bark, I was a scholar, not a survivalist, I had camped out before but not in these conditions, the wood was wet with snow and ice and I couldn't get it going no matter how hard I tried. “I guess... a fire isn't happening.” I said bitterly as I looked forward, despite the snow there was a noticeable path cleared out, and a signpost. Desperate for shelter, I ran up to it and counted my good fortune that the monsters spoke our language, "Home <\--- that way”.

Not the most helpful signposts, or the most creative name, I was either going to a place the monsters called home, or I was going to freeze to death.

Hey, do you figure a death sentence is better if it's quick or slow? Still trying to figure that one out when I initially asked myself... oh, sorry, getting distracted.

I walked down the mountains, following that path and being careful not to slip, huddling into my robes to try to keep warm and wishing that I had fur. The cold was sapping my strength, I was growing hungry and thirsty again, and I could feel myself slowing down.

Eventually I had fully descended from my starting location, I was at the lowest point in the Underground that I could see, and lost in the thick, snowy forest. I was starting to succumb and took a breath wrong, the cold stinging my lungs made me start coughing.

“Hey, did you hear that?” A deep, gruff voice rang out.

My blood ran cold, colder than it already was, I hadn't seen a flower since I left Waterfall, there's no way that wasn't a real monster.

“I did, should we go check it out?” Another voice called in a very odd accent.

I turned to run only to snag my foot on a tree root and begin to fall.

Hey, have you ever heard the theory on the Rock of Inevitability? Well, it's one I made up myself, it basically says if it's inconvenient for you to be incapacitated, there will be a rock waiting wherever you trip, doesn't help that a few of the rocks in the underground are _actually monsters_.

...If you can't tell where I'm taking this, I tripped and hit my head on a rock, time slowed down as I fell towards it and I started to say a silent prayer to die of the cold before the monsters took me back home to do whatever they were planning, my dazed, head-injured thoughts conjured up images of – well, let's keep this story PG, shall we?

How much later was it? Not a clue, time stopped meaning anything to me, it was simply my internal clock telling me when to sleep and wake that kept me with any sense of minutes passing at all. I woke up expecting it to be in the next life, or in a cell, or some kind of torture device. Instead, it was a well-crafted bed that was way too large for a human to be intended to sleep in.

My head throbbed as I sat up, feeling bandages wrapped around where I must have hit that rock.

“Someone... helped me?” I questioned openly, I was still in my clothing, tatty as it looked now, so they obviously had enough sense of personal space to not give me a change of clothes, at least I thought such, there was a brown robe sitting at the edge of the bed, alongside a mask, I wasn't sure what to think, I wasn't only not dead but looked after. I discarded my old clothing and tried on the new robe, the sleeves were so long that I'd have to make an effort to poke my hands out, and the robe part was so long that I'd be likely to trip over it, not to mention how massive the hood was.

It took me a minute to realize that the robe was that way deliberately, it and the mask were gifts to help hide the fact I was human. Whoever found me was okay with my race, and was actively taking measures to make sure that I wasn't going to be pointed out by anyone with a grudge by hiding my human traits. A monster may have just saved my life.

The thought of having a friend in these caverns, someone who wanted to look out for me despite not knowing me, it filled me with determination.

I looked around the mostly empty room before working up the courage to head outside, placing that mask over my face as was intended, it curved out strangely, looking sort of like a goat when it rested the way it was supposed to, though it was covered in the most gaudy shade of red and black colors I'd seen. I also flopped the hood over my head.

As I walked out I noticed it wasn't a small, empty house, but just a room in a seemingly rather large house, I tried to be as slow and quiet as possible, but apparently not enough so, as I suddenly heard heavy steps on the wood flooring. I froze cold as stone as I heard the steps coming towards me, especially when a heavy, large shadow started looming over me.

“Ohhhhhh no.” I said meekly as I turned around.

The creature looming over me, no mistaking it, was a monster, he looked like a white-furred goat though he stood at least eight feet tall, and he had paws instead of hooves, giant horns that curved back, he also had a thick white beard and the fur on his head was grown into a hairstyle, and most noticeably, his canines poked out of his mouth, they were as big as my fingers.

I look back on that moment and laugh, _“I'm going to die, he's going to tear my throat open and eat me.”_ I thought to myself when I looked at him.

He opened his mouth and spoke, “Hello.” He was so casual, but the boom of his voice ran through me and made me want to fall over. I wasn't sure if I wanted to run, or scream, or engage him in conversation.

“You're uh, scared, huh?” He said, raising a massive hand to scratch his head, I could tell from his disposition that he didn't seem mean, but at the same time, I was too focused on how his hand alone was large enough to pop my head like a grape to respond. “Guess I can understand that, how long has it been since a Human has seen a Boss Monster?”

My eyes widened at those words. From the Elder's stories, Boss Monsters were for all intents and purpose the leaders of the entire society, and so magically potent that they could wipe out an army. My fear started subsiding as my mind swarmed with theories about the creature standing before me, “Who... who are you?”

The great figure looming over me smiled gently, a warm smile, despite the teeth, that made my guard lower before I realized it.

“Ah, sorry, that's rude of me, I'm Gorel, I used to be King of the Monsters, though the title belongs to my son Asgore now.”

_“Dear diary: What... the... f-”_

PG, please. O-KAY, Let's skip to paragraph two.

_“So, to surmise all that's transpired, I got jumped by some freaky cat, nearly froze to death, hit my head on the most conveniently placed rock I've ever seen, and I'm now the guest in the house of the former King of this race, he hung up his crown before the war and his son stepped up in his place._

_He's a nice man, I can hardly believe he's the creature the stories have told about, either he's an exception to the rules, or I've spent the better part of my life being raised on lies._

_He's said that he'd be willing to give me a tour of the city, Home they call it (he mentions his son being bad with names, go figure), he said I should spend tonight getting used to acting like a Boss Monster who was living in seclusion at the far end of the cavern, and wearing the mask to hide scars from the war, apparently that's not unusual._

_The fatherly aura he projects is weird, makes me feel like I'm back home... home... I need to get back to the surface._

_Oh, he's inviting me to share dinner with him._

_Did he just say snails?_

_Crap.”_

His kindness, his generosity, and the fact that I may have been able to go back to the surface, I was filled with determination... and snails.

\- End of Day 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first of the non-protagonist OCs appear. I love writing backstory-type stories because it's so far out that more or less anything could happen and still exist along the rest of the main story.


	3. Bittersweet Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where things really begin to pick up, and in my opinion where the story starts to come into its own.

It was the dawn... I think? Of the next morning, it felt wonderful to actually have a full night's sleep in an actual bed, and despite being right outside of a snowy wasteland Home's atmosphere was surprisingly temperate, which helped.

As I got up I put on the robes Gorel had given me, the ones that would help me hide myself. I grabbed the mask and took another look at it now that the context made sense. It did indeed look like Gorel's species, the mask was carved out of wood, what I thought was a gaudy splash of red and black was actually meant to symbolize the wounds I “sustained” in the war in my new persona; a scar that took an eye (the eyehole was blacked out by cloth so I could see out, but not in), and a burn wound on the side of the mask's snout.

I put the mask on and headed into the living area, the massive monster was talking to someone else, another Boss Monster, he looked just like him except somewhat shorter, broader, and his hair was blonde instead of gray-white.

“Ah, Ralohcs, I was just talking about you.” Gorel said as he saw me come in, “This is my son, Asgore.” My eyes widened in shock under that mask, the man sitting in front of me was the current king of monsters, a figure the stories painted as a black-clad angel of death who could clear a battlefield with a swipe of his halberd.

Here I was, meeting this awe-inspiring figure of legends, this imposing creature associated with death and chaos, he opened his mouth to speak, I listened, expecting some wise words spoken in a voice that would knock my soul out of my body, “Golly, nice to meet you!” My jaw dropped, it was evident from the first words out of his mouth he was the exact opposite of all the stories.

Yeah, even back then he was a huge dork.

“Pleasure to meet you, your highness.” I said, going to kneel.

“Hey now, none of that.” He said in a firm tone, I blinked a bit before standing up, “Just call me Asgore, okay?” I blinked again, he didn't care about formality at all.

“Wait.” I said, catching up to the conversation, “Ralohcs?” I questioned to Gorel.

“Well, that's what you told me your name was, right?” I rolled my lips under the mask, he'd chosen a name for me without my permission, though I let it slide since I didn't know how their species' naming conventions worked, and he'd probably have an idea.

“Right, sorry, I've had a hard time of it, I'm still not thinking right.” I dismissed, he gave me a knowing glance and a smile, those massive teeth still made me nervous.

I didn't realize until a month later that he had heard me call myself a scholar in my introduction and just turned it around, apparently being bad with names is genetic. Of course, eventually I decided to swap the H and the C, it looks better in writing, and hides the fact my name is just a word backwards.

“Well, if that's all you need, Gorey, now that Ral is up I'm going to give him a tour of the city, give your girlfriend my regards okay?” He said as they both stood.

“Kay dad! Talk to you later. Oh, and Ral.” He said to me, I immediately stood at attention, “Welcome to Home, I hope you enjoy your new life here!”

The way he said that, that smile and look, it made me feel more welcome than I did in my own hometown, there was a twinge in my heart, one that didn't want to leave just based on my interactions with these two alone. Still, I couldn't afford to stay, there's no telling if the other monsters shared that sentiment or not... I had to find out.

The thought that all the monsters living in this city were as nice as Gorel and Asgore, it filled me with determination.

“Hey, big guy.” I said, then cringed at immediately at being so friendly with what amounts to nobility, back on the surface that could get you killed on the spot, I just felt like he wouldn't mind, and naturally, he didn't.

“Hm, something wrong?” He responded as he looked over towards me, catching that I was still cringing.

I shook my head, “Well, before we head out... I have so many questions.” I said, taking a seat in the table. It was fine for those seven-eight foot tall monsters, but for six-foot me, it was hilariously short and my legs dangled.

“Well, go right ahead.” He said with a big smile as he went back to take a seat, I fought the chill running down my spine at the sight of his teeth in the interest of... my interest.

“You and your son... you were both alive for the war?” I cringed again, why did the war have to be the first thing I brought up? I started mentally berating myself over it.

“Yep.” He said suddenly, “My species, the Boss Monsters, we're immortal... with a caveat.” I snapped out of my funk to look up at him, he had dodged the question about the war in favor of the question about his lifespan,

“Caveat?” I asked, he nodded as he reached up to scratched at his beard.

“Well, let me start with a question, what do you know of monster's biology?” He asked, looking at me questioningly.

I pursed my lips, even though he couldn't see it, I had spent years being taught how Monsters worked in preparation for this journey and making sure I was ready if I ever actually encountered one, “Your physical forms are weak, you're mostly magic instead of water and flesh like humans.”

He nodded, “Good, that's all you need to know. Boss Monsters like me and my son are naturally ageless, other monsters have lifespans ranging from a few decades to potentially centuries.”

“That long?” I blinked at him.

“A few species have already had anywhere from two to three generations pass since the war, their grandparent's battles a thing of the past.” He responded to me.

“And that caveat?” I asked, he simply smiled.

“Boss Monsters, we don't age unless we have children, it's part of how our species work, and it's a trait unique to us. Human children, and most Monster children even, they grow by the nutrition they receive from food and do so naturally, Boss Monster children drain the energy to grow directly from the parent, so only when we have a child do we age, and, eventually, die.” He narrated to me.

I nodded, “So the gray in your beard?” I asked.

“Yep, a sign of aging, I'm nine-hundred and two years old, though in the physical sense, I'll be one-hundred and fifty-two years old before I turn to dust.”

Once again my jaw dropped, he was alive for ten generations of humans and acted like it was a year.

“You must have seen a lot, not just Monster history, but Human too, I'd love if you'd share your stories with me before I leave.” I said, only to notice his head lowered, and his eyes dropped into shadows.

“Sorry to say, you're probably not going to be leaving.” He said, his tone suddenly becoming grim and making me nervous again.

“Wh-what?” I responded, my mind was immediately going to to the worst case scenario, that he was planning on killing me.

“If you crossed the barrier, you're either an unlucky man or a brave fool, anything can enter, but nothing can exit.”

I know what you're thinking, he doesn't mention that part to me yet, we'll get there. Ah, right, back to the story.

I just stared at him for what felt like an eternity in disbelief, “So... the reason that Asgore was being so nice to me... and why you gave me this disguise.” I said, the full gravity of the situation sinking in.

“Because you're going to have to live with monsters until you die, I'm... sorry.” He said, his voice was full of regret, “I should have mentioned that when we first met, I let you get your hopes up.” I should have been the one mentally tormented by this situation, but listening to the sadness in his voice, I just wanted to give the old furball a hug and tell him it wasn't his fault.

I sat there in silence with Gorel for what felt like an hour before I finally spoke, “Hey... you know what?” I lifted my head up, “If the rest of the monsters are like you, and like your son.” I pulled the mask off, letting him see that I was smiling genuinely, “I think I'll be okay, yeah?” His mood picked up, though I could tell that he wasn't quite convinced, I wasn't either, really I was still just lying to myself so I didn't have a complete breakdown.

“Well, you said you'd show me around the city, I guess now it makes sense why I'd need to know, huh?” I put the mask back over my head, sighing internally as I realized this may as well have been my face now, at least the wood was oddly breathable and not uncomfortable to wear. Gorel stood up with a nod and began to lead me outside.

I fell asleep last night without looking outside any kind of window, so my first impression of Home was going to be right then, and, my, what a first impression it was. Gorel's home was on a high rise which afforded me a spectacular view. The city was huge, it made any of the castle towns back home look like shires, not to mention the stonework on the buildings looked like something from another world entirely, something not even our best stonemasons could create.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” The aged monster said to me, smiling, “New Boss Monsters turning up is... kind of big news, but we're the only species with proportions similar enough to humans for you to pass as, just stick near me, I'll speak for you.”

I nodded in silence, thankful that he had my back, though I wasn't looking forward to the fact that my disguise was going to be an attention grabber when that was the last thing I wanted.

The markets were... hoo. I was thankful for Gorel then more than ever, some of the monsters kept a respectful distance from the retired king, some saw me in tow and all but charged him asking questions. He never bent though, the story always the same: I was hiding out in the far, unexplored ends of the underground in solitude, and just recently decided to move to the city. It was the same case pretty much everywhere, the taverns, the inn, the central square. Still, the bustle felt good, made me feel not alone in this place.

The addendum that I'm not confident in myself was usually enough to make them respectfully give me my space. Except the seahorse monsters, they apparently really enjoy flexing in people's personal space.

Ech.

I'd have to adjust though, I couldn't always count on him to help me in a situation like this.

The monsters were... interesting. In comparison to humans their appearances made the name fitting, but at the same time none of them were aggressive, or rude, a lot of them just gave the aura of not knowing better. Once more the stories I'd been told since I was a kid proved to be lies.

I decided that if I ever did get back to the surface, I was going to give the elders an earful, and write the truth about monsters. The thought filled me with determination.

Once we arrived safely back at Gorel's abode, I gave a sigh of relief, glad to be away from the crowds. “Hey, this mask is getting a bit stuffy, think it can come off?” I said, reaching up to it.

“Sure, the windows aren't open so nobody will see your face, I don't see the harm.” He responded as I nodded and took the mask off.

“Your people...”I closed my eyes, “Tell me something, what was the war, really? The stories I was told since childhood, they're wrong, I can see that with my own eyes.” His disposition grew grim again as he went to his kitchen, I frowned, hoping I hadn't overstepped my bounds.

“The war... wasn't.” He said as he stoked a fire, I saw no coal or sticks in the hearth, I realized after a minute that it was magic, “Humans launched a surprise attack, no warning or declaration, they just started attacking one day.”

My mind almost broke from those words alone as the last of what I had grown on was turned around, he was too nice to lie, right? How could he not be telling the truth? “Why?” I asked as he shook the fire off his hands as the hearth began to cook the meal he had bought, to my relief it wasn't more snails, but rather some odd meat that nonetheless smelled wonderful.

“Because they were afraid... the seven mystics who trapped us down here were the last vestiges of humanity who could naturally use magic, Humans had been losing their spark for centuries. Compared to monsters, to whom magic comes like breathing, if we did decide to fight it would be a slaughter, at least, that's what they thought.”

I sat down against the corner of the threshold between the kitchen and dining area, listening to him continue to speak as he made dinner, “That wasn't it though... they were afraid we'd take their SOUL.”

I lifted my head up, staring at him, “Soul?”

“SOUL.” He corrected me by emphasizing the other letters more, “Everything that you are, memories, life, emotions, it's all in your SOUL, and Boss Monsters, like me, we have the power to absorb Human SOULs.” My heart wanted to jump into my throat at that revelation as I suddenly became wary of him. I shook my head, immediately degrading myself for thinking ill of this man who had been nothing but kind and trustworthy. He must have looked back at some point and noticed the look on my face, I heard a small grunt from him that implied as much, but he continued, “One soul makes a monster powerful enough to fight back, up to six makes our power grow... and at seven.”

I raised my head, “At seven?”

“At seven we could make God tremble.” The fire in the cooking hearth flared at that.

I personally think he did it on purpose to be dramatic... right, story.

“Wait.” I interrupted, “Fight back?” I stood up slowly, he looked to me and nodded grimly.

“A monster's SOUL is attached to our physical forms because we're beings of magic, this makes us sensitive to emotion. Attacking someone like you, a person who wouldn't fight back, we'd be fine, but attacking someone who can look at us like an obstacle, and especially someone who could hate us, they'd disrupt our form and could easily kill us in a single blow.” He shook his head.

My mouth gaped in shock and horror, “Then... the war...” The thoughts rushing through my head were awful at that point, I had been raised on complete and total lies, almost ashamed to be human after hearing such things.

He sighed, “It may as well have been a war of extermination, thousands of monsters were turned to dust, and we didn't obtain a single human SOUL. Their soldiers had been raised to treat enemies as if they weren't living things, one human could kill multitudes.” He turned back to his food.

“No humans died...” I said quietly as I sank back down,.

“Humans... I forgive them, Asgore forgives them, some of the monsters who weren't alive then forgives them. But there are a lot of longer-lived monsters who still remember that, if not participating in the war than at least being sealed up, they would kill you for your SOUL if they knew... because.”

“Because?”

“Because with one human SOUL in a Boss Monster, the barrier could be crossed, and with seven, it could be shattered completely.”

_“Dear Diary: Today my worldview shattered like glass struck by stone, I was raised believing that, even if Monsters didn't attack first, they at least fought back and caused casualties, but no, they didn't... it wasn't just, nor was it called for._

_I want to get out of here to tell the other side of the story, but would they even believe me? No, they'd probably laugh at me or kill me for it. Either way, that's moot, because the only way I would leave is if a boss monster took my SOUL, and Gorel and Asgore, they're too nice for that, and I don't want to die anyway._

_I'm resigned to my fate, but I don't think it's that bad honestly, the monsters are all nice, some a bit too handsy and others a bit odd, but I'll adjust._

_I'll be fine here, I think._

_I hope._

_\- Ralochs, I guess?”_

I wasn't sure what the future held for me in this new land or the new life I'd have to make, but I looked at the mask on the table and stayed determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be the first to admit that I absolutely love Asgore as a character, my intention with Gorel was to make him as "Asgore, but more world-wise" as possible, something I think I succeeded with.
> 
> Post-Update: Hellooooo, it's been two months later and I've come to grips, so I'm coming back to rewrite some minor stuff and fix some formatting issues to make the story more pleasant.
> 
> Not much change in chapter 3, I split a lot of paragraphs dependent on who was speaking and made it clearer who was, there wasn't much that I had to fix so this was a good point to start, I think.
> 
> Post-update post-update: ...I... have mispelled Ralohcs... in every story he's been in. You know what? I'm running with it.


	4. Onward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mumbles something about fonts*
> 
> Bit of a shorter chapter than the rest of the story for reasons I describe in the endslate.

 The silence killed me as we ate dinner, I had no rebuttal for the revelation Gorel had just dropped on me, the thoughts buzzed through my head like a  hive of bees as I wondered what that's even like to have your soul – sorry, SOUL, absorbed into another creature, I think he wasn't speaking for my sake, he saw the look on my face and decided he would let me break the silence first... of course, we would only be so lucky.  
  
“HELLO MY FRIENDS!” A voice all but screamed as I heard the window open, I nearly choked on my food before it just kind of melted in my mouth into nothingness, then immediately put my hood on and slammed the mask on my face... so hard that I popped myself in the jaw. I was too busy rubbing my chin and re-adjusting my mask to turn around to see who came in.  
  
Gorel was trying desperately to not look amused at my reaction, instead turning his attention to the guest, “Coming in through the window again, Colon?” He said as if this was usual.  
  
“Hey, at least I didn't jump through it this time, your former majesty.” I pretty much stopped caring about the pain at that, too weirded out by the newcomer, I turned to look at them and almost screamed when I saw they were a human skeleton wearing a suit of armor way too large for them, though I did fall out of my chair.  
  
“Uh... monster?” I said as I picked myself up, looking to Gorel, he just chuckled and nodded.  
  
“That's Colonna, the captain of the royal guard and a good friend.” Gorel responded.  
  
“Greetings human, good to see you've recovered.” His accent was... hard to describe, like he was trying hard to sound elegant but just wound up sounding messy, and a little hard to understand.  
  
“How does he...?” I looked back towards Gorel, who was still trying hard to not chuckle.

“He was with me in Snowdin woods when I found you, it's okay, he's fine with you.” He looked up at him, and narrowed his eyes into a glare, the first time I've seen him make that particular expression and one that made my blood chill, “And he's not a human, he's a Boss Monster like me, right, Colon?”  
  
The skeleton rattled in his armor and saluted, “R-right, Boss Monster, right.” He finally proceeded to – not so gracefully – scale through the rest of the window.

“You know you could have pulled back out and come in the door, right?” I said with a raised eyebrow, not that he could see it.  
  
“But I was already halfway in the window, so why not?” He responded.

I didn't give that a rebuttal, he was already giving me a headache, I turned back to my food and took a bite. “Hey, why is it when I started choking the food disappeared?” I said, looking at the lump of meat, what animal it was from I didn't know and didn't want to know.  
  
“Oh yes, that's right, you haven't eaten much in the way of monster food yet.” Gorel responded, “Well, that's quite simple really, it's because-”

“Because monster food is made by magic and doesn't have to digest, as long as it's in your body long enough it turns into pure energy!” Colon cut in. Gorel gave an exasperated sigh, the kind that told me that he does this often, but he tolerates it because of their friendship, the sight brought a smile to my face.  
  
“Huh, you cook with magic, your food's made of magic, you guys are made of magic... the longer I stay, the more I realize that I've stumbled into an entirely different world.” I chuckled softly as I considered my situation.  
  
“Hey, Colon, doesn't the missus need you back home?” Gorel cut in.  
  
“Oh no! I completely forgot about that, you two have a nice rest of the night, byeeee!” At that, he then proceeded to dive full force out the window he came in.  
  
The window that had closed behind him.  
  
I winced at the loud glass breaking sound, then looked to Gorel, who looked completely unaffected by it. “That frequent?” I asked, deadpan. He responded with a nod as he chewed his food, equally deadpan.  
  
“Mentioning his wife is a good way to get rid of him right now, especially since she's expecting.” He said casually.

I blinked, my mouth falling open slightly, “What.”

“Monsters are weird.” He responded, as if he himself gave up on questioning it.  
  
“He keeps the monsters who make glassware in business, all by himself.” He said bluntly. The thought and complete lack of sarcasm in the statement got me to laugh, I realized that it was the first time since I had come to the underground that I had actually laughed instead of a subdued snicker or nervous chuckle.  
  
Minutes passed with the mood lightened, then something came to mind that made me frown.  
  
“Hey, about earlier.” I said, he looked up at me, “Sorry for uh, that look I gave you.” I sighed.  
  
“Don't worry about it, it's natural.” He responded, not angrily or dismissively, rather like he understood. “That you didn't run away, just that little shock, that was enough to tell me you trusted me enough, I appreciate that.” His face cracked into a small smile. I tried to not react to the sight of his teeth, it was getting easier every time to not.  
  
“So, what happens to me now?” I asked, looking at the plate in front of me.

“Well, what would you like to do? I'm sure the library could use some new scribes, or perhaps there would be a job around the palace for you to take up.” He responded.  
  
I took another bite and folded my arms as I thought, “Well, can't say no to an honest job. Would you mind if I lived here, at least until I grow used to everything?” He looked at me and smiled.

“Given everything, I'd be disappointed if you didn't, at least until you're confident enough in your place down here to purchase your own.”

I couldn't help but smile back, “Thank you, big guy.”  
  
_“Dear Diary: So, talking skeletons, everything is made of magic, this place gets stranger every day, and yet I'm satisfied here, I'm going to see if anyone has use of a scholar, maybe I wouldn't be able to  catalog human history, but if I can scribble some Monster history, that's good too, I can at least get A name out there._  
  
_Gorel's offered to let me live in his place for as long as I want, he's offered to teach me how to cook as well as how to act more like I should if I'm pretending to be a monster._  
  
_It's an odd twist my life has taken, a few days ago I was still walking down a dirt road getting shaken down by cutthroats... I don't think I miss it, and I miss it less every day._  
  
_Still, despite everything, there's a feeling I just can't shake, one that makes my spine tingle._  
  
_\- Ralochs.”_  
  
The thoughts of the life ahead of me, one where I'd live as a monster instead of a human, the twists and turns, the friends I would make... they all filled me with determination.  
  
So... at this point, things start to move, I managed to become the royal librarian and live a comfy life for six years until things changed enough for me to be worth retelling.  
  
I'm gonna grab a drink, you want anything? Hm, Golden Sunflower tea? Interesting choice. Alright, I'll order us some and continue once I've finished drinking, you're a pretty good listener by the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter and I end this chapter with a timeskip because fish out of water stories are a huge weakness of mine, I have trouble getting that right amount of "This world is so alien, how the heck am I going to fit in?" All my characters in stuff I write adjust too fast for people to call it believable.
> 
> I wonder who that skeleton's kid is going to end up being?
> 
> Also a subtle nod towards the narration, I can't imagine who the listener might be.


	5. Starlit Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming out of the time skip strong, let's get right to the meaty stuff.

Hm, guess I get why you like it so much, that tea was pretty good.  
  
Alright, where were we... ah, yes, jump ahead to six years later. I guess this means it's almost serious time huh.  
  
Twenty-two years old and finished growing, I had lived in the underground for what felt like forever but I had long since stopped caring about that, I had met and befriended a lot of monsters, I'd been able to see and catalog the growth of the city as other monsters grew old enough to move out, I was even invited to the wedding of Asgore and his now-queen, Toriel.  
  
Life was pretty great.  
  
It was a week after the wedding, I was sitting on the roof of Gorel's house, which may as well have been mine too after all the years. I admit it felt weird given that I was an adult now, but the old man had grown into a father figure for me.  
  
Anyway, back to the roof. Some of the mountain had caved in at the top of the dome, affording us rare glimpses of sunlight at certain times of the day, I was laying on my back staring at the false sky, watching as the sun beams retreated and the glow of the crystal stars replaced it.  
  
I yawned, ready to fall asleep then and there, when I heard a heavy form climbing the ladder to get up to the roof, “Hey Ral, how's it going?” Gorel and his son sounded a lot alike, but I was around the two of them long enough to be able to tell them apart, even without Asgore's childish tics.  
  
“Hey Asgore.” I responded, not bothering to take my gaze off the roof or even sit up.

“Watching the sunbeams again?” He said, walking over.

“Yeah, it's nice to be able to see the sun again, isn't it? For at least a little while.” I responded whimsically, half asleep from the peaceful silence up in the area we lived.  
  
If Gorel became like my father, Asgore was definitely my big brother at this point, even if I did hassle him for talking like a five-year old, what kind of king says golly, anyway?  
  
He nodded, taking a seat and looking up, “You want to go back there, don't you?” His voice was casual, but his words made me stop moving entirely.  
  
A few seconds passed before I started moving again, crossing my legs, but still not bothering to get up, “So... you knew.” I said.  
  
“Boss Monsters come in a lot of shapes and sizes, but even still, you're too small to be an adult, I figured it out about two years ago when you said you were done growing.” I pursed my lips at that, “I could have fallen for it if you said you weren't getting bigger because you lost your parents young, but you said you were still aging.” He continued.  
  
In retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised, he's sensitive and nice, but you don't hold onto a crown without being at least a little perceptive of things happening around you.  
  
“And nothing changed.” I said lowly to myself, I didn't have to look at him, I could feel the smile on his face.

“Of course not, dad trusted you, he had since that first day, and you'd never done anything to hurt anyone, you fit in perfectly.” He responded as he looked back up at the roof.

I smiled at that. “You're making me blush.” I said, chuckling. “So, how's the queen?” I asked casually, changing the conversation.

“Oh! Tori's doing wonderfully, at first I was wondering how she'd handle being queen, but she's really taken charge of...” He trailed off, I immediately picked up on it.

“Of everything?” I finished his sentence, then laughed.

“Hey now... I mean you're not wrong but.” He reached back and scratched the back of his neck, making me laugh even harder, soon enough he joined in too.  
  
“Hey... Ral, I have a question.” He said, his tone getting somewhat sad.

“What's that?” I said, finally sitting up to look at him.

“If you could have one wish, one wish out of anything in this world, what would it be? To go back to the surface?” He was looking at the holes in the sky.  
  
“That would be the obvious answer, huh? You should know I'm not an obvious person.” I responded, smiling, “If I had one wish, one wish that didn't follow any rules, it would be to become a Boss Monster like you guys, so I could live down here without having to hide my face.”  
  
He turned towards me and blinked, the raw shock on his face almost made me laugh, he looked like a cat that had just been spooked by a loud noise.  
  
“Really? I thought for sure you'd want to go home.” I took off my mask, letting him see my face and the smile I was wearing.

“This _is_ my home.” I asserted, “Back in the surface world I didn't really have a place to stay, I would wander around and gather information on whatever came to mind, village history, war stories, folklore.” I sighed as I looked back on those days, “But it was my destiny to wander around forever, always gathering stories, never finding a home or settling down. I was scared out of my mind at first, always feeling like a misstep would kill me, or I'd stumble into a monster. But now that I'm settled down and comfortable, I realize that I wouldn't trade this for anything. You and Gorel and Colon and Toriel, and all the monsters down in the city... this isn't just Home, it's home.” I was trying my best to not let my emotions get to me, but I think he saw a few errant tears as he reached over and patted me on the back, tearing up a bit himself.  
  
I smiled as Asgore patted me, I decided the mood I made didn't suit me, so I killed it immediately with four words: “Wow that was sappy.” It caused both of us to explode into laughter.  
  
…  
  
Ah, sorry, I'm uh, I'm good, let me continue.  
  
“So, if it's not Ralochs, what's your real name then?” Asgore said as he looked at me.

I just sat there for a bit, “Uh... huh, what is my real name? You know it's been so long that I think I've forgotten.” I started laughing about it, Asgore seemed shocked but I didn't care at all, “Ralochs, what an awful name, it's just scholar backwards.”  
  
“But I wouldn't want to be called anything else.” I added after a few seconds.  
  
The two of us sat on the roof staring at the false stars for a bit, “So.” I broke the silence, “When are we going to be getting a prince?”  
  
Asgore immediately sputtered at that and went such a bright shade of red his fur didn't hide it, “Wh-wh-whaaaaat?!”

I just looked at him with a smile, “You are way too easy to fluster, Gorey.” I laughed.

He finally calmed down enough to answer after taking a big outward breath, “Golly Ral, give me some warning before you ask a question like that. Well, I mean not in the foreseeable future, we want to make sure things stay stable, not to mention it's hard for our species to have kids.”  
  
I nodded, “Yeah, I should have remembered reading about that, a lot of the library's books have turned into one big jumble in my head. Oh well, I was just wondering, I'd like to see what my adopted nephew would look like before I die.” I smiled over to him.  
  
He closed his eyes and sighed, “Hey... don't say that please.” He said sadly, my face turned into a frown, realizing just how callous my last sentence sounded.  
  
That's right, he'd live far beyond what I would, even assuming I lived to be old enough to be an elder and didn't die sooner, my life would be a pebble in a lake compared to his.  
  
Immortality sucks, huh?  
  
“You know, there is another wish I'd have.” I said, “I'd like to become long-lived like some of these monsters, just so I could be here for the passing of ages, see where our inventions go, what we become capable of... maybe one day, even see the barrier destroyed. Though, I guess wish one would accomplish wish two, hm?”  
  
I knew he was listening, I felt like I was probably making Asgore's sadness over my lifespan worse, but rather, he pet me on the shoulder just once as he stood. “Hey, Ral.” He said, same tone as when he came up, same tone when he left, I looked at him to see that big smile, “Don't worry about it, okay?” He said before leaving.

I just smiled somewhat wistfully, “Curious, very curious.” I said.  
  
Looking back, it was pretty obvious why he was asking that.  
  
I sat there for a little while before laying back down to look at the crystal stars, eventually dozing off.  
  
The next day I was walking down the hallway in the palace on the way to the royal library, minding my own business and reading a book when I heard the most ear breaking noise getting closer and closer, I turn around to see Colonna running towards me at full speed.  
  
I know what you're thinking, how fast can a skeleton in armor run? The answer is pretty freaking fast. I had to slam myself against the wall to prevent being ran over, “Apologies human! Oops, I mean Ralochs, but the misses sent a missive, I'm needed at home immediately!” He screamed as he charged _through_ the stone wall, leaving me completely flabbergasted.  
  
“I still don't know how he can carry so much momentum.” I said to myself, then turned to go let someone know that there needed to be some repairs, usually all I had to say was Colon's name and location and they'd sigh and acknowledge it without any further question.  
  
I went back to reading as I walked, not noticing when I rounded the corner that I nearly bumped into someone, I gave a slight yelp as I backed up, “Oh! S-sorry, I wasn't looking where I walked and- oh, Lady Toriel.” I gave an internal sigh as I realized I almost slammed into the queen.

“Evening Ralochs, looking at your book instead of the location again I see.” She said jokingly. I cringed, yep, some things don't change, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson after reading and walking got me stuck here to start with. “Don't worry about it, dear, why are you going this way though?” She asked.  
  
“Colon.” I said without any further words.

She just sighed and shook her head, “I should have known, he took off the second he got that letter.”  
  
“Given what he screamed at me before he left a him-shaped silhouette in the stone wall, I think his wife needs him.” I smiled under the mask.

She gave a  wry smirk and shook her head, “I swear, that man's completely subdued by his wife.” I couldn't help but chuckle at that, she was one to talk. I spent a few minutes talking with her before the subject went to Asgore, “Oh, that's right, have you seen him? He's been... down recently.” She said, her expression turning into a frown.  
  
“Down?” I asked, “He's been spending a lot of time at his father's, and when he comes back he acts like he doesn't have any joy to him, have you noticed anything strange?” she responded to me.  
  
Anything strange...  
  
“Ah!” I said, realizing, “Well, no.” She looked at me, narrowing her eyes. I had grown used to Gorel and Asgore glaring at me when I avoided conversation, when Toriel does it I feel like I'm about to be sent screaming into the abyss. She still causes that whenever she does it, “Well, okay, I've noticed Gorel getting... slower recently, he's still talking like nothing's going on, but I've seen him moving with a limp, sometimes he doesn't wake up until late in the day.”

I looked up at Toriel, she didn't look happy, not angry though, just sad, “I see, that... it makes sense, he's approaching the end of his life.”  
  
My eyes widened, my mouth opened slighlty, and I dropped my book, “What? How old will he be this year?”

Toriel looked at me, closing her eyes, “Physically, a hundred and fifty-two.” The age that he expects to pass away at, I felt my muscles tense at that.  
  
“Lady Toriel I apologize but I need to-” I started saying before she cut me off with an understanding smile.

“Go.”  
  
I thanked her in silence and started running full force towards Gorel's home, I needed to ask him, I needed to know.  
  
His life was ending, I wanted to know how long he had.  
  
_“Dear Diary: I'm not happy with the situation as it's developed._  
  
_Asgore's lost his happiness._  
  
_Toriel is worried sick._  
  
_Gorel is dying.”_  
  
I charged onwards towards his house, thinking of all the times we'd shared, I couldn't stop nature, I knew that, but I at least wanted to be there with him when he left.  
  
My steps hastened, and I was filled with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that working up the brotherly dynamic between Ralochs and Asgore was my favorite part of this fic, and part of why I wanted to write it so much in the first place, not to mention paint him as at least a little bit more competent than most fanworks, he's king for a reason.
> 
> I'll warn you, if the death of a family member is a trigger you may not want to read ahead, stuff starts getting sad and it doesn't get much better, this is where the fic takes a bit of a turn.


	6. Death that begets Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feels ahoy.

I still don't know why I ran so fast, like I was going to come into his house to stand over a dusty reading chair. He still had time, but the shock of the revelation had made me throw logic through the Colon shaped hole in the wall. Which is coincidentally the way I left the palace, it was faster.  
  
I slid through the door frame, almost skidding as I stopped “Old man!” I yelled out, he and Asgore were sitting at the nearby table talking, Asgore seemed rather shocked by my entry, I think Gorel knew though.

“Hey there Ral, in a hurry?” He said to me casually. I took a minute to catch my breath, I didn't realize how far – or how fast – I had just ran.  
  
“You didn't tell me that you were looking at your last year...” I was still out of breath and my voice had no volume to it, but they heard me.

Asgore frowned, “Ral...” He looked to his father, who closed his eyes.

“I was... that is to say, I would have said it closer to when I expect it to happen, less time between the initial shock and the occurrence, I figured it would hurt less.” He told me.  
  
I couldn't think of how to respond, “I still... I think I deserved to know.” My voice was small and dripping with emotion.  
  
“To be honest.” He said, cutting me off, “I was discussing with Asgore something involving what you'll do after I pass.” I stayed silent, letting him know I was listening.  
  
“My SOUL.” He said, the word jolted through me as I lifted my head up, “You learned long ago that a Boss Monster can absorb a human soul to gain godlike power, just one increases their magic to the point of making them a beast of legend... but it can also work the other way, a Human can absorb the soul of a boss monster.” I stood up at that, slowly taking my mask off and putting my hood down to stare at him.

“What are you saying?” I can't tell you if that was a rhetorical question or if I actually couldn't pick up on it, I wasn't thinking straight  
  
He closed his eyes, “Asgore and I have decided this together... when I die, I want you to absorb my SOUL.” Another jolt ran through me, this one like an arrow hitting my heart.

“Wh-what?” I responded as if the air had been knocked out of me again.  
  
“A Boss Monster's SOUL, the culmination of their being, I don't know what will happen if you do, but I know it will let you cross the barrier at the very least, or, maybe something else?”  Asgore added, his voice hesitant, he wasn't entirely on board with this plan, nor did he know what would actually happen. He was just going along with his father's desire.  
  
How do you respond to something like that? I don't know, to be honest I still don't even all these years later, I had gone completely numb to the world around me.  
  
I left without a word and went up to the roof, once again staring at the sunbeams poking through the holes, “I can be free.” I whispered to myself, “But... I don't want to, especially not if it's only because my father figure is dying for it.”  
  
I suddenly felt a heavy grip on me, then another. I had been so distracted I hadn't noticed that they had sneaked their way up to the roof while I was rolling in self-pity, and most likely heard what I said. Gorel and Asgore, they had wrapped me in a group hug, then I realized then that Asgore was crying too.  
  
I was an idiot, I thought, I didn't even consider how Asgore must have felt, Gorel was his father by birth, and he knew well and good that he had been dying, no wonder he'd been down. “Guys...” I said through tears. We stayed up there in that hug until the sunbeams vanished once again and the roof started to glow.  
  
I couldn't help but notice through the two masses of muscle and fur that Toriel was watching from the ladder, I saw her duck down the second she realized I could see her, had she planned this?  
  
…  
  
I uh, hey, is it raining? ...What do you mean we're indoors?  
  
Right, sorry I just... I need a minute, pardon me.  
  
…Okay, time to continue... I'm not ready for what comes next.  
  
A few months passed since then, I think that the three of us hugging it out helped, Gorel was still slowing down, but when he moved he did so with purpose, making the most out of the time he had left. Asgore had gone back to being the unstoppable kindly ball of fuzz he used to be.  
  
And me, I stayed close by, I chose to spend those months doing what I did best, writing. I was going to listen and write as Gorel told me his life's story, so that when he moved on his deeds would never be forgotten.  
  
Hm? I just kind of dropped the bit about Colonna's kid? Oh yeah, he was born without issue, he was... uh... he was... you know, it's horribly embarrassing, but I can't remember his name... or what he looked like... or what he did. Something about science, I get a headache when I think too hard about filling in those gaps, Sans seems to know, he can probably tell you.  
  
Five months passed, it was late at night in Gorel's study, I was finishing off the last book he said there was any point to writing, when he stepped down from ruling to give it to Asgore. He was talking, and then suddenly he wretched and fell over, I knew what was happening, but I still wasn't ready.  
  
I sent the missive immediately, Asgore arrived within minutes, running so fast that the stone walls warped from the breeze chasing him. Toriel arrived soon after, it didn't surprise me she'd be there to support her husband.  
  
That scream of “Dad!” as Asgore all but kicked the door in, when I have a bad dream, I'll inevitably hear that phrase repeat over and over.  
  
What words were shared between us as he lay dying? Those are... they're between me and him and Asgore, I'm not going to say. However, I can tell you what happened next.  
  
He looked at me and smiled, “I have... a last request for you, Ral.” He said to me, I nodded and listened, staying silent so that I could hear it clearly.  
  
“I looked more... at what would happen if you took my SOUL.” I winced, I forgot about that completely, I'd have to do it, wouldn't I?  
  
“It's your choice if you want to leave for good, or come back and stay, but with our souls together we can cross the barrier... I'd like you to take my SOUL, and let it see sunlight one final time.” All three of us were left bawling tears, Toriel comforting her husband while trying to stay strong for us three, even though she was crying just as hard.  
  
“I- I promise.” I said through my blubbering  
  
“And Asgore.” He said, smiling. Asgore looked up at him.  
  
“Make me proud.”  
  
…  
  
… the funeral was scheduled for tomorrow, at the end of the service the dust was to be scattered over his weapon, the one now used by his son.  
  
… I... hold on, how embarrassing that I'm losing my composure in the middle of a story, and I call myself a scholar.  
  
As for me, I took his SOUL as he wished and went to my room, in what was now my house. I went to bed, getting ready for my journey to the barrier after the funeral. As I slept, I felt a rush of power, heard a second heart beating in my chest as Gorel's SOUL situated itself in its new home, monster SOULs were supposed to disappear after death, but I suppose that when it entered my body, it became capable of sustaining itself off the same determination that would let my soul persevere if I died.  
  
The dreams I had that night were a bit too on the nose I thought, then it turned out that, surprise, they weren't dreams.  
  
“If you could have one wish, what would it be?” “I wish I could fit in down here...” “I wish I was long-lived, so I could see our accomplishments...” My conversation with Asgore echoed in my mind, I groaned a bit as I stirred from my sleep with a sudden sensation of dull pain, but shrugged it off and returned to sleep.  
  
And then, Gorel's voice rang out to me, echoing a conversation from a few years ago, “Did you know, Monsters have stronger magic, but Humans are more versatile? A Boss Monster can be an unholy terror, but ultimately they're only best with a chosen type, with others being secondaries like healing. A human SOUL, brimming with the magic of the spark they've since lost could rewrite the rules, that's how the barrier came to be despite owning no elemental properties.”  
  
Be careful what you say when you make idle wishes, you never know if a genie may be listening in.  
  
I woke up the next day feeling groggy and sore, I reached up to my face because it hurt bad.  
  
“Ugh, did I fall asleep in my mask?” I reached up to rub at the mask and tried to pull it, and it didn't give. I froze, reflecting on the dream.  
  
“Oh no...” I said lowly as I felt around my face, eventually pricking a finger on something sharp, “Ow!”  
  
“I'm going to stand up.” I announced my actions, breathing in as I stood, my feet were bare and my soles didn't feel particularly hard anymore, I also felt a head taller than I was just yesterday.  
  
“I'm going to walk over to a mirror.” I stated, a bit more panicked as I felt some added weight on my head, and an odd kind of gait in my legs.  
  
“I'm going to turn on a light.” I added, fiddling with a wick with hands that seemed larger than normal as I struck a lantern.  
  
“And if I see what I think I'm about to see, I'm going to scream.” The room lit up, and I saw my reflection.  
  
To my credit, I didn't scream.  
  
I passed out!  
  
...What do you mean it's not a good plot twist because you could see I was a Boss Monster from the start and I started the story describing myself as a Human? I guess you're right, I should have had my hood up.  
  
I woke up some hours later and took another look. Sure enough, my body had changed, I was taller, slightly bulkier, covered in fur and looked- you get where I'm going with this, you're looking at me right now.  
  
I was thankful that it chose the face based on I guess what I would have looked like if I had been born into this body from the start, I didn't have the features of my mask, would have sucked if it involved losing an eye.  
  
It wasn't until centuries later when Alphys ran detailed experiments on the captive SOULs that I pieced together what had happened, it was the power of the human SOUL on what amounted to a caffeine high. A human SOUL, filled with determination by itself is capable of a redo, the power to SAVE and LOAD. So tell me, what happens when a determined human is suddenly given a massive surge of magical power by absorbing the soul of a Boss Monster, a being of incredible power?  
  
Simply put, I rewrote my position in reality, as far as it was concerned I had always been a monster. Hm, that doesn't simplify much, does it?  
  
He said anything could happen if a Human took a Monster's SOUL, go figure.  
  
Problem was, now that Gorel's SOUL had adjusted to its new home, his magic stabilized and I wasn't able to rewrite reality anymore, there wasn't any going back.  
  
_“Dear Diary: I want so badly to talk about Gorel's funeral, but right now I'm more focused on the fact that I'm suddenly not human anymore._  
  
_You know, I should have seen it coming with the old man's words, and with what Asgore asked me about what I'd like to do if I had a wish, especially when I responded, “I'd like to fit in better.”_  
  
_A human powered up with a Boss Monster's SOUL, a being able to temporarily rewrite reality._  
  
_Apparently that includes being able to subconsciously turn from a human into a boss monster, and then immediately losing said power to bend reality so I can't change back._  
  
_Things just got very interesting._  
  
_Ralochs”_  
  
The sudden shift in my life was shocking, especially because it came so suddenly, and after such an emotionally draining day to start with. But at the same time, that idle wish had come true.  
  
I thought I was filled with determination.  
  
But I was, at least outwardly, a monster now, could I still make determination?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the twist at the end of the chapter was something I agonized about forever but eventually I decided to go through with, and I'm happy I did so. People are either going to stop reading the fic here, throwing their arms up with a cry of "This is dumb" or they're going to love where it goes.
> 
> In meta-language, I guess if one soul lets you save and load, then a soul and a boss monster's lets you hack the game to swap sprites?
> 
> I feel like my rationalization was good enough, let's be honest, Flowey did weirder, though he was also powered up with a lot more SOULs.


	7. Time of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, after that last chapter let's take a quick step back, eh?

I should have been happy, really I was moreso freaking out over it. It's what I wanted, but it was still a change right down the genetic level, no, not even genetic, down to the level of reality itself shifting.  
  
After I calmed down from my panic attack I took an hour to figure out how my body worked now, you'd think it'd be easy, nope, it was definitely not. Different leg structure, different height and weight, different senses, you'd be stunned at how hard it was to adjust, or maybe not, maybe you have enough of a sense of biology to figure it out.  
  
I still bite divots into my lips every now and then, not to mention that everyone makes door frames too small for me, I can't tell you how many times I've had to pay people to repair the pockmarks my horns make.  
  
I walked – and I use that term sparingly, I tripped constantly – into the palace. Hood down and mask off, I knocked on the door to the part of it that Toriel and Asgore lived in, the actual home part of Home.  
  
Unsurprisingly, Toriel was the one to answer the door, Asgore usually slept in and I couldn't blame him, especially today. “Hello? Oh! did you come from the far ends after hearing about Gorel?”

I just smirked at that, “Well, no and no.”  
  
I really wish that cameras had been invented back then, the look of pure shock on Toriel's - and when she woke him up, Asgore's - faces when they saw me was a thing of beauty, I- uh, don't tell Toriel I said that, she'll beat the snot out of me.  
  
“The power of a SOUL.” Asgore said in disbelief after I finished explaining.

“Seems that your father was looking out for him, dear.” Toriel added in, eliciting a smile from both of us, and causing me to cut my lip on my teeth again.

“Ow!”  
  
“I guess that's why he asked what you wanted to wish for, do you think he knew so far in advance that he'd be able to do something like this for you?” Asgore questioned.  
  
I just shrugged, “I have no idea, the old man always seemed to be a step ahead of us, it wouldn't surprise me if he had planned it to happen this way since the first time I slipped up and called him father.” I reclined in the chair, closing my eyes to think, “He lived for a thousand years, he may have even seen it happen before.”  
  
“Well, I think it's wonderful that you're finally able to not hide yourself, you always seemed so worried someone would figure it out.” Toriel added.

“You knew too?” I said, blinking at her.

She just smiled, “It was pretty obvious even from the first time we met.” She stated.

“Really? It took me two years.” Asgore added, getting a slight look from his wife that made him shrink back, causing us to both laugh at his expense.  
  
We talked for a bit before Colonna knocked on the door, “Hellooooooo?! I just came to tell you that the funeral will be starting shortly.” I couldn't help but notice that he looked over in my direction, “Wow, who's the new Boss Monster? She's pretty.” I blinked at that while Toriel and Asgore completely lost it as he left.  
  
“Really?” My tone of voice was completely incredulous.

“It's the hair.” Asgore added, trying not to burst into laughter again. Okay, so I guess my hair was long for a boss monster, even though it was short-ish for a human, and maybe I was far skinnier than Asgore and Gorel because my slim human body was the base, still though, did I really look that feminine?  
  
... _Do_ I really look that feminine?  
  
He either didn't notice or willfully ignored the large horns, an easy way to tell the genders apart, I'm not sure if he was making a crack or not, as loose as his grasp on reality was, he was capable of some good wisecracks.  
  
I shook my head and said my goodbyes for the time, giving the two time to prepare for the funeral. I put my mask back on and my hood up as I left and started to walk down to the main part of the city.  
  
I would continue to wear the mask for a little bit, I could take it off now but that would still show that I was lying by showing my face wasn't marred like I said it was. I would take it off for good eventually, I just needed to come up with a good secondary lie to why I said I was wounded.  
  
...  
  
Gorel's funeral, it was half ceremony, half party. The oldest monsters who were still alive for his reign were all but singing songs of his praise, the younger generation joining in, probably just for the sake of a party, nonetheless it felt lively, probably the way he wanted it to be.  
  
When it came time for the ceremony, I stood a few feet away from where it would take place as Asgore and Toriel walked to the center of the town. Toriel was carrying the ancestral trident, a massive hunk of metal bigger than she was, something only someone of Asgore's size could wield practically, while Asgore carried the urn with our father's dust inside.  
  
As they arrived, Asgore took the weapon from his wife and slung it over his shoulder, then handed her the dust. He walked into the soft patch of dirt in the dead center of the city.  
  
Throwing his arm outside of his cape to reveal the black armor beneath, he swung the trident and spun the massive weapon once, then slammed it prongs-first into the ground, standing over it with his cape billowing in the wind.  The sight caused all revelry to cease, the entire city fell dead silent.  
  
“Monsters of Home, those who stand with us in the Underground!” His voice radiated outward, “My father carried us through harsh times, kept us prosperous while the world tried to tear us apart, I've long since known the pain of loss, not just my father but every monster who has turned to dust.” I listened in intently, as did did everyone else. I had never heard Home be so quiet.  
  
“This weapon, the weapon he once used doesn't just represent him, it represents all of those passed, all of our hopes, our dreams, the future of monsters. I scatter his dust onto this weapon as per his last request knowing that one day it will be taken out of the underground by me, or my son, or my son's son, because one day, the Barrier will fall, and we will see sunlight again!”  
  
I could see it in the eyes of the younger monsters, that look of sheer adoration, my eyes probably looked that way too honestly. I knew Asgore as a person instead of a king, as my brother more than anything, and he wouldn't have preferred it any other way.  
  
But the way he stood in the midst of that ceremony, dressed in his father's armor and standing there with his father's weapon beside him, his presence and speech caused the crowd to erupt into a roar of cheers and “long live the king!” I understood perfectly why he held the crown, when he needed to make a statement to his people, he was more than capable of sending out that aura of power and leadership.  
  
The sensation sent a tingle up my spine, I could feel the determination welling up inside me, though it made me feel really uncomfortable, almost as if in pain for some reason.  
  
Asgore took the dust from Toriel, and then uncapped the jar and let the dust pour onto the weapon. Monsters put their dust on their favorite thing when they die because- what do you mean you know already? You okay? You look kind of down about something.  
  
… Right, I'll skip the rest of the funeral.  
  
A few days later, after we had finished mourning, and after I had grown more used to my body, I met up with Asgore and Toriel for lunch at their home.  
  
“So, what now?” I questioned.

“I'm not sure, onwards to the future I suppose. The royal inventor thinks he might know a way to break the barrier, but that's a big might.” Asgore said.  
  
I closed my eyes at that, “I wonder...” I put my hand to my chin as I thought aloud.  
  
“Well, I know what I have to do.” I said, coming out of my thought.

“Oh?” They both responded at the same time, then shared a smile that was so sweet it almost made me ill.  
  
“I still have the power to cross the barrier, though I no longer have hope of rejoining humanity.” I may have been making light of it because I was still in shock over it, you don't just change what kind of creature you are and go about your business.  
  
“That's right, dad's last request.” Asgore responded.

I nodded, growing a bit sullen, “To take his SOUL to see the sunlight. I'm going to get some supplies together and head out tomorrow, I'll cross the barrier and then come right back... unless.”  
  
“Unless?” Toriel questioned.

“Hey, with someone who can cross the barrier, I bet I can do what I do best; gather knowledge.” I said proudly as the light bulb went off in my head, “Humans are always inventing, I mean, we're always inventing too, but it wouldn't hurt if we knew what people were up to on the surface with technology.”  
  
Asgore smiled at me, “Golly, I think that's an excellent idea, Ral!”

Toriel nodded in response,  “Just be careful on the surface, if humans find you it won't be pretty.”

I nodded, frowning slightly at that, “Right then, I'll see what I can find in terms of human innovation while I'm out there.”  
  
We spent the rest of the day talking, reflecting, joking. Moments like that... I really hope those two make up,  I would like to have those moments back.  
  
Uh, right, it's their business, not mine.  
  
I went back home and made some dinner. If you ever wonder why Toriel and Asgore like snails so much, yeah, it's something to do with Boss Monster taste buds, I spent six years getting sick off them, then suddenly it's like they were the best food I'd ever eaten.  
  
So then, the next day came and I said my farewells, then headed out to the barrier.  
  
I closed my eyes and felt the brisk chill of Snowdin run against me as I left Home. It was substantially easier to traverse with fur keeping me warm, and fire magic to make a camp if I had to stop for any reason.  
  
Waterfall didn't bear mentioning, though I did seed some pretty mean vocal pranks in the echo flowers, the fact they were replaced by screaming on the way back told me they had gotten someone.  
  
Hotland was probably the worst part, even though the Core wasn't there yet and it was just a long path up and around, the heat still killed me.  
  
As I came to the end of the cavern, I walked up to the barrier. The years hadn't changed anything, it was still that same imposing gray tunnel, barely shining through with light from the outside world.  
  
Taking in a deep breath, hearing both SOULs in my body, our hearts beating together, I pushed against it, and it gave.  
  
I almost wanted to cry at seeing the bright overworld for the first time in six years and hearing the sound of birds chirping in the forest below.  
  
I had granted the old man's last request, now to get on to business.  
  
_“Dear Diary: The funeral went as it was supposed to, when I left Home everyone was still partying in Gorel's memory, I wish I could have joined in but I have other things to do, a last wish to fill, and then, with what power I have, I'll help monster-kind stay equal to humans, despite the barrier._  
  
_Ralochs.”_  
  
Seeing the sun again filled me with determination, and that same sense of discomfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually one of my more favorite chapters to write, between Ralochs still freaking out of what happened to him, everyone ELSE freaking out over what happened to him, and Asgore putting out that kingly aura we hear about but never see, I felt like I did pretty good.
> 
> The joke about Ralochs looking like a girl was actually something a friend suggested when I showed them the draft when I offhandedly mentioned that he still had some resonance with his human form, "How would that even make him look as a Boss Monster?" The answer was his physique would probably be closer to Toriel than Asgore or what I imagine Gorel looked like.


	8. Ever Onwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I'm bad at french sounding names. Is Mt. Ebott even a real place in the world? I feel like it is.

So here I was, a monster in the human world, something people never thought they'd see. What was I supposed to do with myself? I know I had a plan, but now that I knew I could actually do it, I wasn't sure where to take it.  
  
How was I supposed to get knowledge exactly? Mug a traveler? Break into a home in a human village? I wasn't quite sure what to do, I did however, notice that it was getting late, I figured I'd rest as I thought it out, maybe it'd come to me in my sleep, I leaned against a tree and dozed off.  
  
I woke up a bit later in that night to the sound of rustling in the bushes, I frowned a bit and called out, “Who's there?”  
  
Here's a question, do you believe in twists of fate, or insane coincidence? I'm still not sure what this meeting counts as.  
  
Out of the bushes in the dark of night came a human, dressed in leather armor just thick enough to protect against knives, and a saddlebag hanging from his shoulder, “S-scuse me, sir, I was just wandering through here and heard you snoring.”  
  
Snoring, what an embarrassing way to be found when you're trying to be discreet.  
  
“Sir?” I raised an eyebrow and realized that he couldn't get a good view of my face to see I wasn't human, I didn't make a campfire since I was warm enough in my fur and robes, not to mention it gives my position away.  
  
“Oh, is that not alright, sir? I mean uh, sir, I mean-” He was talking in circles, I just sighed.  
  
“Ralochs.” I answered curtly, “You seem scared, what would someone of your constitution be doing on Mt. Ebott?”  
  
“Oh, well uhm, would you mind if I took a seat and started a campfire?” I grimaced, pulling my hood over my face further, it could only hide so much.  
  
Especially when I drug it over my horns so hard the fabric tore and they started poking through.  
  
“If you're freezing, be my guest, otherwise I'd advise against it, it would attract unwanted attention.” I wasn't entirely lying, the more attention you drew the more likely you'd attract bandits, I just had a bit more reason than your normal person to not be seen in decent lighting.  
  
“Oh, o-okay.” He took a seat at a tree opposite of me, then started shivering.

I sighed before speaking, “Go ahead and start a fire, if anyone comes I'll chase them off.”

He looked up at me, still not seeing me clearly, “If you say so, sir.”  
  
“So, I'll ask again, what's a kid doing out here in the wilds of this cursed mountain?” He perked up, alerted by that.

“Well, I was sent here on a task, b-by my village elders.” That elicited a raised eyebrow from me.  
  
“What kind of task?” I asked, he was fiddling with the bag of goods he had on him.

“Uh, uh, here, this.” He said, producing a book, “The war of the monsters, my elders sent me out here because they wanted to definitive proof that it happened.”

My eyes shot open at that, I started to speak, “Because they're afraid it will fade into myth and...”

He spoke up, finishing my sentences, “We won't be ready if the monsters return, yes!”  
  
I knew this kid from my human life, at least I probably did. He'd been sent on the same fool's errand I was.  
  
He stood up and started gathering sticks to make a small fire as I debated if I should try to dredge up the past.  
  
I rolled my lips, muttering lowly, then lifted my head, “Jacques?”

He tilted his head, “Huh?”

“Benet?” I said again.

“A-are you guessing my name?” He questioned.

“I am, because I think we're from the same place.” I said with a frown, no use hiding that anymore.

He jumped up at that, “Jean?! The scholar who went missing on this journey six years ago?!”  
  
Jean, that was my name, I had completely forgotten it amid the years that had passed.  
  
“But... wait, why did you just introduce yourself as Ralochs, why have you been hiding yourself for six years instead of returning home?” I grimaced, I shouldn't have introduced myself. I gave a harsh sigh as I watched him fiddle with flint.  
  
I couldn't help what I did next, my inner showman came out.  
  
“Because Jean the human is dead.” I snapped my fingers (despite that being unnecessary), causing a fireball to appear and drop onto his small bundle of sticks. He let out a surprised squeak before he looked up at me and froze, paralyzed with fear.  
  
“I stopped being that person years ago.” I stated as I pulled my hood off, letting him get his first good look at me.  
  
He wasn't moving, just sitting there with eyes as big as dinner plates, “Relax, I know the fangs are scary at first but I use them to crack open snail shells, not arteries.” I was kind of enjoying his reaction, so much so I may have been subconsciously trying to make things worse with the words I used.  
  
I'm a terrible person in that way.  
  
“I'd advise you not run screaming into the night, I'm your friend here, everything else in the forest probably isn't.” I said, reclining against the tree some more.  
  
I guess I did a good enough job of looking non-threatening, he eventually picked himself up enough to start speaking again, “You... you're not...” He didn't believe me.

“I was.” I responded plainly.

“But how?” He questioned.

“Don't know.” Again, not a lie, I really didn't, at least not in that point in time.  
  
“You were human but now you're a monster.” He was eyeing up pretty much every aspect of me, I couldn't blame him.

“Boss Monster.” I corrected.

My words caused him to go pale,“Y-you mean.”

“That fireball I summoned was a fragment of what I could do if I wanted.” That one, however, was a bold-faced lie. I had been in this body for less than a month, I would eventually grow to be competent enough with magic, but as I was I could barely make the spark I needed to start that fire.  
  
He had so many questions I had to deflect, I didn't want to give away too much about how the monsters lived, less humanity decide they're getting too comfortable and strong and come back to finish the job. I had never had to be such an eloquent liar, haven't since, even.  
  
“So then, if the barrier is real, how did you get out?” He asked.

I just shook my head, “SOUL.” I stated flatly.

“Soul?”

“No, SOUL.” I repeated, feeling the worst sensation of deja-vu. I didn't realize that I hadn't made up a good lie for that yet, I didn't want them knowing that SOULs could be absorbed.  
  
“I think it's because my SOUL is both human and monster because of my transformation, the barrier didn't know how to handle me.” I said, pulling something out of nowhere. “The barrier holds strong, against human and monster alike, people don't need to fear their return any time soon.” I added.  
  
“I-I see... still though, how incredible.” I saw him take out a notebook, my eyes narrowed and I just barked a “Hey!” at him, causing him to scream and drop it.  
  
“Sorry, that was uncalled for.” I muttered, feeling guilty, “I know you were sent for proof, but I can't let you tell people that I was human once, or that I can cross the barrier.” He went pale as snow, I hadn't considered my wording, poor guy thought I was about to kill him.  
  
“Lie, please.” I said calmly, causing the color to return to his face when he saw I meant no harm, “Tell them that you found the barrier but you didn't feel safe trying to cross it, that it looks to be holding strong but this area is still too dangerous to settle.”  
  
“But... didn't you come here years ago because you wanted them to know the truth?” He said to me, I just looked up at him, that alone caused him to shrink back.  
  
“Is the truth worth a genocide that shouldn't happen?” He couldn't find a rebuttal for that.  
  
Minutes passed in silence before he opened his book, writing in front of the dull campfire.  
  
“My journey to Mt. Ebott, I found signs that the barrier exists, however, wary of its nature I chose not to cross it.” He said aloud as he wrote, eliciting a smile from me.

“Thank you.” I said sincerely as I listened in while muttered the words he was writing in his notebook, a necessary lie.  
  
“So, what's it like?” He asked me as he wrote.

I just smiled, “The monsters on the other side of the barrier... I was afraid at first, but I managed to hide that I was human until I changed. I can't say how it would be as a known human down there, but the monsters are all kind, some a bit odd, some a bit unintentionally violent that you have to get used to, but I'm happy and comfortable.”  
  
“You don't miss being human?” He asked.

I frowned a bit a that, “Haven't considered it, actually... I guess not.” I added, “I'll get to live forever, or at least until another Boss Monster shows up that I'd want to settle down with, in a way I get to make sure I see history by living through most of it.” I didn't sound entirely certain and the frown on his face told me he picked up on that.  
  
It was the first time I'd been made to think about just what it meant that I wasn't human anymore after the initial shock. I didn't belong anywhere besides the underground, I couldn't go home to see my parents if they were even still alive, as far as everyone is concerned I died out here. It was sobering. I closed my eyes and focused on the friends I had made down below, “No... I'm happy like this, my friends, my new family, everyone down below, this is my lot in life and I'm content with it.” I said a bit more confident as everyone's faces went through my head, smiling at him and watching that shudder run down his body from it.

“Are those really as sharp as they look?” He said, pointing at my teeth.

“Sharper, I still cut myself on them.” I chuckled.  
  
He was full of questions to be sure, I felt bad that I told him to lie, and that I had to lie myself, all this information about monsters and he'd be stuck living his life not being able to share it with anyone. And even then, I was unsure if I could trust him. Then an errant thought came to me.  
  
“Hey... actually, this is good for me.” I said, recalling the reason I crossed the barrier and blessing my good fortune.  
  
“I crossed the barrier because I don't want monsters to fall behind culturally and historically, how about you come back to this spot in a few years and I'll pay you for some books? And your silence.”

He tilted his head, I could tell he was intrigued, “How much?”

“Depends on how many books you bring, I'll pay a hundred gold.”

He blinked at me, his mouth dropping, “Gold?! They still use gold currency?!” I blinked, I hadn't thought of how freakishly wealthy monsters are, still using individual gold coins as their currency.  
  
Well, things worked out, huh?  
  
So started a cycle for me, every few decades of my now endless life I would leave the barrier and meet with the scholar, and eventually his descendants, who didn't mind working with a monster if it made them money.  Though it eventually stopped, I still don't know if his bloodline died out or if they just lost contact, eventually I had to fall back on plan two and start rooting through trash to find out about human history through discarded newspapers and other miscellaneous stuff.  
  
I don't think it was always reliable information, especially the stuff that told us about Japan.  
  
The latest books or food, eventually electricity and electronics, they would be brought to me and I would take them to the underground. All this while still scribbling down our own history, it was rather hectic.  
  
Still, I was glad to be an onlooker for the passing of ages, there are certain perspectives you only get if you live forever.  
  
Colonna stepped down from the royal guard to enjoy his twilight years, I wasn't sure how long skeletons lived, but it was apparently pretty freaking long, it was six-hundred years before he turned to dust from aging.  
  
His kid eventually became the royal scientist and had two kids of his own, albeit not until way late in his life, the guy was good at reverse-engineering... and coincidentally creating the same inventions as humans before I even brought them back, I still wonder if he didn't have some way of looking forward and knowing things before the rest of us did.  
  
Still wonder what happened to that kid, and why just thinking about him gives me a headache even though the brothers don't get that same reaction.  
  
Time goes forward, ever and ever forward... until the new millennium.  
  
You just got really pale kid, you okay? Yeah, I'm not surprised, you probably know what comes next.  
  
So anyway, what happened next is-

* * *

  
  
"Hey Frisk!!! You in here?!" Undyne yelled as she kicked the door down, causing the boss monster to cringe.  
  
"Oh great, her." Ral said with a sigh and a shake of his head.  
  
"hey kid, pap said we might find you here" Sans said as he walked up to the table and took a seat.  
  
"SEE, I TOLD YOU HE WAS TALKING TO ASGORE CLONE NUMBER THREE!" The taller of the two skeletons added  
  
"Well, looks like I'm done for tonight. And I'm not his clone Papyrus, I'm his brother." Ralochs said curtly, looking more than a little annoyed.  
  
"REALLY? I DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD A BROTHER!" Papyrus responded, blinking twice.  
  
"...We've met before, Papyrus, we've talked _at length_ before." He added, raising an eyebrow under his hood.  
  
"uh, lemme tell you a story when we get back home, bro." Sans said as he tugged at his brother's arm.  
  
"I LOVE STORIES!" Papyrus responded as he was led away.  
  
"Right... anyway Frisk! Toriel's wondering when you'll come home, she said dinner's ready!" Undyne said with a smile.  
  
"Thanks for the heads up Undyne. Have we really been talking that long? You can head on home, gives me time to think of which parts of the rest of the story I should tell you. And hey, give your mom my regards, Frisk, see ya tomorrow." Ralochs added as he waved to the child as they departed.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, this chapter didn't originally exist, but a different friend from last time suggested that I give Ral a bit more of an internal struggle over the loss of his humanity.
> 
> Looking at how the story wrote itself, he kind of shrugged off his last bit of hesitance towards his situation, OH WELL.
> 
> The story being hijacked at the end before the next timeskip was fun, even if the story format made it look kind of odd, I'm really glad I didn't use much in the way of bold text or that would have been waaaaay more confusing. Also yeah, if the subtle hints weren't obvious enough the person the story is being told to is YOU (IE, Frisk). How can Papyrus be so good at stealing the show when he gets less than five lines of dialogue? Seriously.
> 
> Post-update: So, besides a lot of fixing paragraphs that overlapped two different dialogues, I fixed the formatting at the end, instead of having them speak in bold to denote another character speaking, I just did a POV change to third person since I just finished a story that was written in third person.


	9. Fallen Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time has come, Ralochs' story has finally brought us into the years of the game itself.

...She really said that about me? Ouch. I mean, I guess I can understand, but I figured she'd cut me at least some slack compared to Asgore.  
  
Well, what can you do but try to rebuild burned bridges.  
  
So, ready for the rest of the story?  
  
I'm not.  
  
Right, so we go ahead in time, far ahead in time, nearly nine-hundred years later to the passing of the new millennium.  
  
Things had stabilized into an equilibrium, I would sneak out and grab technology, or the royal scientist would invent it himself before I got back. Running water, cell phones, soon enough the internet and human culture weren't far from us, and then we went even further by creating the Core so we could power everything.  
  
One by one, things changed for the better.  
  
I remember hearing cheering from Asgore and Toriel's wing of the palace as I walked by, I knocked on the door and Asgore answered it, he was beaming. “Wow, you're glowing like you just came from Hotland, what's the-” Asgore didn't even wait for me to finish before answering, “Toriel's pregnant!”  
  
It was big news, Boss Monsters have a really hard time having kids, it might seem ludicrous that it took them nearly a millennium after they married, but by the standard of the species, that's normal.  
  
Asriel's birth caused a party in the underground so fierce I swear the entire mountain shook, everyone was so excited and hopeful at the arrival of our new prince, myself included.  
  
I remember it like it was yesterday, visiting their home and having little Asriel slam into my leg because he wasn't watching where he ran, teaching him about the world above from what I knew of it when I was given the chance to do so.  
  
“Uncle Ral! Look, a girl in the upper grades lent me a history book she found floating down in Waterfall!” Asriel said as he came to me in the library.

“Oh? Let me see.” I took the book from him and stared it over, “Must be another thing from Japan, I guess the kid that found this was Alphys? She has a habit of digging this stuff up.” He just nodded at that.  
  
“I uh, wouldn't really trust her word this is a history book, Asriel.”  
  
I'd let a few of those slip through mistaking them for actual history, unfortunately when I do they tend to wind up in the schools, part of being the royal librarian is that you're usually the last stop for people wondering if something's accurate or not, especially when you're old enough to have lived through most of it.  
  
“Hey uncle Ral, dad mentioned something about you, but I don't think he knew I could hear him.” He said, looking at me suspiciously.

I perked up at that. “Oh?”

“He said you weren't always a monster, what did he mean by that?” He told me, tilting his head, I just smiled.

“That was so many years ago, I tend to forget if people don't specifically mention it. Well, I used to be human.” His mouth dropped at that, “Your grandfather, when he passed away he gave me one last blessing in letting me absorb his SOUL, it gave me power for a while, power enough to do this to myself.”  
  
“Wow, do you think I might be that strong one day?” I just smiled at that.  
  
“Maybe, anything is possible in this life.” I answered.  
  
Asriel...  
  
I...  
  
...I'm not crying, I told myself I wasn't going to cry when I got to this part.  
  
And then, Chara graced us with his presence some years later, 201X.  
  
It was a blessing that monsters had finally moved past their grudge enough that they didn't have to hide themselves like I did when I arrived, the royal family embraced them as their own and I followed, he became a second nephew to me.  
  
I still remember those conversations with them, Chara was... quirky, they weren't mean-spirited but they always talked about things far too mature and morbid for their age, combined with that unceasingly sunny disposition and the way they eyed weapons like a five-year old eyes candy, they had a tendency to creep me out.  
  
“Hey uncle Ral!” “Greetings Ral.” The two said as they came up to me in the library, “What are you reading?” Asriel asked me.

“Oh, it's a book on surface plants, would you like to-” Before I knew it they were both sitting on the arms of my reading chair looking over me.

“Yes.” They both said at the same time.  
  
“Hey look Chara, those are the flowers that broke your fall.” Asriel said as we got to the page on sunflowers.

“Yeah, sunflowers, we were lucky that you landed in the patch of those, it would have been a lot worse if you'd hit the bare ground.”

“Hey, what are those?” Chara said, pointing out another plant.

“Hm? Those are ranunculous, also known as buttercups.” I said.

“They look familiar, hey Chara, isn't that what we accidentally fed dad?”

I grimaced at that, “Yeah, they're very poisonous if you eat them, it's no wonder Asgore got so sick, thankfully he's strong enough to have survived it.”  
  
… I don't want to recall this next part, Frisk, I really don't.  
  
A few years passed, and then that night, everything went wrong. Chara suddenly fell ill and we weren't sure what had caused it, we tried to cure them, tried to keep them alive, but it failed, they died a slow death that I wouldn't have wished on any living creature.  
  
Asgore's desperate plea to Chara to pull through still haunts my nightmares.  
  
I feel responsible for what happened, I still do, they borrowed the book on surface plants from me, and when I got it back I noticed it had been tab-marked on the page for buttercups. I didn't realize until it was too late that the symptoms they were suffered were from ingesting them.  
  
We thought Asriel was in his room mourning when he was actually going to Chara's hometown to fulfill their last request with their body, I was comforting Asgore and trying to not lose my composure myself when Toriel came in, “I can't find Asriel anywhere!” She all but screamed.  
  
We turned the city upside down looking for him, eventually reconvening in the throne room. Then the door swung open, “Asriel!” we all called out. He walked forward a few steps and smiled at us...  
  
Then he fell down...  
  
When he turned to dust, before his SOUL moved on, I saw two of them hang in the air for just a second and I realized what had just happened.  
  
I...  
  
I...  
  
Damn it all! It was _my_ fault!  
  
_**Crash!**_  
  
I told Asriel about the fact that I was what I was because I absorbed another creature's SOUL, it was common knowledge, but at the same time I showed him what that power let you be capable of doing. I'm the reason he knew that he could have done it with Chara's SOUL, the reason Chara would have known that Asriel would have been able to cross the barrier to take him to see his home one last time, the reason that he was killed... It was all...  
  
Asriel... Chara... I'm sorry...  
  
...  
  
...Sorry, Frisk, that was... that was uncalled for...  
  
I know, I know that it probably wasn't because of me, but I'll never stop wondering, what if it was? What if I was responsible for seeding that idea in their heads? And that's why, Frisk, why I'm so thankful that-  
  
Right, I need to get back on track.  
  
I'll... have to pay Grillby for a new table before I leave. I didn't think I was physically strong enough to split wood like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter physically hurt to write near the end, it doesn't help when your bloody psychic music player decides to play the Undertale main theme on shuffle.
> 
> Ral referring to Chara in the masculine after spending the story staying gender-neutral was intentional from the get-go, I feel like it helped get across that he was so distraught over the memory that he couldn't even bother to keep his correctness as a storyteller going.
> 
> Hm, wonder what Ral was about to say before he cut himself off.


	10. SOULs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence warning bears mentioning, methinks, nothing is said in detail but there are cutaways and mention.
> 
> This is where the AU/Canon Divergence really starts coming into play as we see how Ral affected the events of the game itself.

I'm... I'm okay now, I'm calm, just need to keep breathing, this doesn't get any easier.  
  
I didn't know what to do, Asgore and Toriel were inconsolable, and I stood by, watching as Asgore declared war in a thoughtless rage, that it was time to break the barrier and that we'd wipe out humanity. There was a twinge that ran through me, but I had long since stopped associating myself as one of them, I was ready to give him my full support in this.  
  
It was a time of change, change that I didn't like.  
  
We built New Home, to be close to the barrier when that day of prophecy came. Still, I stayed for a while at Asgore's request to make sure that the monsters that wanted to do so would move out of Home safely.  
  
Try to keep a handle on the time that passes here, Frisk, the six human souls didn't fall in all at once or even within a short time of each other, so I'll be skipping multiple years.  
  
Two years later, the first of the six fell. Light Blue.  
  
Poor kid, they had never moved from where they fell, I'm not sure if they were injured or just too scared, but the monsters eager to escape had gotten to them before I could. I felt helpless at it, all I could do was take their SOUL to New Home, and then...  
  
Toriel ripped into Asgore over his plan, for reasons you probably know by now, she couldn't stand by and just watch children die when Asgore was now perfectly capable of crossing the barrier and getting more SOULs. I was tempted to agree, but bit my tongue.  
  
She left him broken and in tears and then disappeared, I should have guessed she was hiding in the ruins, even if you broke off the main paths into the forests, or the far end of the caves where errant Boss Monsters still hid in solitude, it was the only place you couldn't get inside and the only place in the underground I knew of with holes a human could fall through.  
  
Here I was, stuck, an onlooker between two paths I didn't want to take. Did I do the right thing and help Toriel keep the children safe, even at the cost of everyone's freedom and betraying Asgore? Or did I keep my obligation to my adopted brother, the last family I had in the world, even though we both knew his plan was going to destroy him?  
  
I tried to take both options, and it failed horribly.  
  
A few years later, number two fell down, a headstrong kid who trusted in his fists. Orange.  
   
I tried to guide them, I really did, but I don't think they trusted Toriel when they stormed out of the ruins, and they didn't trust me either, I tried again and again to guide them but they just wouldn't listen, wouldn't stop running.  
  
“Hey kid, you need to slow down and listen.” I said to them as I ran beside them, just barely keeping up, they ignored me and ran faster.  
  
“You don't understand how things work down here do you? You need to stop and listen or you're going to DIE!” He just kept rushing ahead, never turning to face me. Eventually he darted into the woods and I lost track of him, I knew that he wouldn't survive, but he refused all forms of help.  
  
They didn't make it past Snowdin. I took the second SOUL, the sting of failure hurting my spirit.  
  
More years passed and then... number three came, the dancer. Dark Blue.  
  
I went to go help, only to find something that took me a minute to register as human. They had left a wake of shattered SOULs and were so covered in dust that it had stained the tutu they wore.  
  
Their EXP and LOVE were higher than I had ever felt, I couldn't guide this one. I wasn't a fighter, I had never killed anyone, but I had no choice.  
  
I stepped forward determined, determined to stop them.  
  
I realized too late that the determination was burning at my body, I wasn't able to handle what my SOUL was making.  
  
It started at my hand, the melting, that is. I think they saw it and thought it was a weakness, they kicked my arm so hard I felt my form destabilizing from their LOVE, another hit and I'd be through.  
  
I actually may owe them for that, the sudden fear of death at realizing how much damage they did shattered my determination and caused the melting to slow down, I wasn't determined anymore, but despite the pain and panic I told myself I wasn't going to die, for Asgore's sake.  
  
I quickly brought my other arm around and struck back at full strength, that was all I needed to end that fight.  
  
My left arm was half-melted and crippled though, and while the melting slowed, it wouldn't stop, it was crawling up me like an infection.  
  
I didn't know what was happening and I was scared out of my mind, my life flashed before my eyes and I felt something tug on my SOUL as I let my claws heat up with the hottest fire I'd ever made, then took a vicious strike at my other side.  
  
I lost my left arm but the melting had stopped, I was seriously wounded and going into shock. I whited out from the pain thinking “This is it, this is how I die.” footsteps in the shallow water behind me was the last thing I heard before I faded completely.  
  
It would be a few more years before Alphys had learned the exact nature of determination, and not until you came along that she shared with us the ultimate fate of monsters who had too much determination, I count my lucky stars that I didn't melt down like the Amalgamates. These days I try to temper my determination, too afraid of it happening again and not being able to come back from the brink.  
  
I still don't know who saved me, or how they did it, I should have died there on that day but a miracle in physical form granted me a stay of execution. Unfortunately they couldn't save my arm, it had stopped melting but its severance had made it turn into dust.  
  
I returned their SOUL to the throne room, eyes glazed and covered in blood and ashes, events as they had played out had left me a hollowed shell. When Asgore saw me he panicked, he looked more remorseful than I'd ever seen when I told him what happened, he hugged me and I just sat there in silence.  
  
I wasn't a killer, but they had to be stopped before they could reach New Home and treat the entire city as free EXP. Even still, I couldn't rationalize taking a child's life no matter how wicked they were, and I realized how awful this situation was.  
  
I wasn't recovered from the trauma, or adjusted to the loss of my arm in time for number four to arrive a few months later. Purple.  
  
I remember seeing Gerson come in with the SOUL, he never approved of the plan despite being the last non-immortal veteran of the war, so I wouldn't think he'd have taken the child's life, but I never asked him. He and Asgore got into a war of words, but Asgore insisted it was too late to stop it, we were so close.  
  
I wasn't sure what to do, grief turned to rage and I eventually found enough willpower to go to Asgore and discuss this with him. I wanted out of this plan, and I wanted to bring him out of it too before it killed him.  
  
“Asgore.” I called to him as I watched him put the purple SOUL in the container, “This is... I'm sorry, I don't want to leave you to this but... I can't watch you destroy yourself, even if it's for your people.”  
  
He looked at me with a grim countenance, “Ral... you've lost so much because of this, you don't have to keep helping me.” He said understandingly, it half saddened me, half enraged me that he knew what he was doing was so wrong that he didn't raise any objection to me ceasing support of him.  
  
“You need to stop.” I said lowly.  
  
“I can't.” He responded, the emotion in his voice was barely hidden.  
  
“You still feel like you should, because you're the king.” I muttered under my breath, “Asgore.” He turned to me as I lit my hand with fire magic.  
  
“If you won't turn away from this path because it's your obligation as king, then I challenge you for the crown!”  I sounded seething, but really I was trying to keep from having a complete breakdown.  
  
What was I doing, did I think that would work? No, I knew it wouldn't, but I had to try something to get him to back down. I attacked him.  
  
It wasn't a fight at all, I had trained for centuries but even though I'm far stronger than your average monster, I never stood a chance against Asgore, I wouldn't even stand a chance against Toriel. You only saw them fight with kid gloves, Frisk, even Asgore held back despite trying to kill you, if he had gone at you with his full power you wouldn't have even had the chance to strike him.  
  
I went at him until I had exhausted myself and couldn't defend, what moves he didn't deflect entirely he dodged with speed that you wouldn't expect for his size. When he saw I had worn myself out, he summoned his weapon and sent me into the wall, one hit with the blunt end was all it took for me to be taken down.  
  
For all his softness, all his kindness, he was the king for a reason and I was reminded of that by the half ton of magical metal that sent me flying.  
  
He had tears on his face as he swung, once again I came to the realization this was hurting him more than anyone else, he had lost his children, his wife had left him and disappeared into history, he watched his brother lose an arm in his desire to aid him, and he was trapped on this path he didn't want to take because the people had true hope for the first time in millennia, he was broken and alone, and here I was threatening to leave him behind too, or even stand against him as an enemy.  
  
I couldn't do it, I told him I would help those last three children who fell, but I was still going to be there for him, because if I wasn't, who else did he have?  
  
I had recovered enough in time for number five to drop in the next year, the chef. Green.  
  
They were patient, friendly, I took the time to teach them how to cook monster food since they already had the knowledge of human stuff. I defended them for as long as I could but we only needed to be separated for a moment.  
  
I realize in hindsight that my defense meant that they couldn't find their own determination, I was too hands on and that was their downfall, they died through no fault or error of their own.  
  
I brought their SOUL back hating myself again, but Asgore kept me from falling back into that depression.  
  
Five SOULs, only two left.  
  
I admit I spent time debating about my own SOUL, it hadn't changed when my body did, or I wouldn't be able to continue holding Gorel's SOUL in my body, like SOULs can't absorb one another, so the fact his heart still beat alongside mine told me I was still human at the core.   
  
That was why I could produce determination despite that not being something monsters are able to do, and why I couldn't cross the barrier and see to completing Asgore's plan myself, I couldn't absorb a human SOUL.  
  
I debated taking my own life to spare the seventh child, but I disregarded those thoughts, I feel like it would have been more cruel to Asgore than taking a child's life ever could.  
  
It took a few more years for number six to drop, I admit I might have been responsible for the length of time it took. When I left the barrier I would usually stumble upon one or two groups of people who didn't give any credence to Ebott's reputation, I would chase them off with fireballs, send them screaming about will o' the wisps, it was better to send them running through the forest screaming than to risk them falling down.  
  
Finally, number six fell, the gunslinger, yellow.  
  
Who gives a kid that age a loaded revolver anyway? I guess their parents had just enough sympathy to give them a chance to survive abandoned on Mt. Ebott, not enough to not abandon them though.  
  
That kid, they were precise and cunning, I thought they stood a chance of making it to Asgore, but their determination only lasted as long as how many bullets they had left. When they ran out, they were just a helpless kid, one who had gained more EXP and LOVE than I felt comfortable with. They fell in the upper levels of Hotland, jumped by monsters wanting revenge for loved ones callously gunned down.  
  
I took them back to the palace, we had our sixth SOUL and just needed one more.  
  
I came to notice a pattern, each successive child would make it a little bit farther into the underground, I fully believed that the final child would make it to Asgore and the thought of the encounter filled me with dread.  
  
Several more years passed in relative silence.  
  
Within those years the old royal scientist had disappeared and Alphys had replaced him. Toriel had vanished from memory, a lot of monsters knew there was a queen once, but few knew her name, and those of us who did wouldn't say it, it just made Asgore depressed. Undyne, a monster that Asgore had trained since her youth fought her way to the captain of the royal guard,  and the bone brothers were running around making trouble, the next generation had come into full swing and I didn't even realize it.

* * *

  
  
Before Ralochs could continue the story, a loud voice cut in, "DID SOMEONE SAY MY NAME?!"  
  
Ral gave a loud, annoyed sigh, "No Papyrus, in fact you're one of the only names I _didn't_ call out, now if you don't mind, I'm telling Frisk a story." He said with a slight glare.  
  
"BUT I WANT TO HEAR THE STORY TOO!" Papyrus protested, looking to the two.  
  
"Okay, but only on the condition you be quiet as a sleeping mouse." Ralochs sighed out, conceding the arguement.  
  
"GOTCHA!" He yelled at full volume.  
  
Ral gave an even more annoyed grunt, "I swear to God... where was I? Ah, right, so anyway, after those years passed..."  
  
"I LOVE THIS PART!" Papyrus cut in, Ral shot him another glare.  
  
"What did I just say?"  
  
"i got this, hey bro, i saw that dog raiding your bone collection again." Sans said as he walked up before the situation got worse.  
  
"AGAIN?! THAT MEDDLESOME MUTT!" Papyrus stood up and ran out of the restaurant to try to capture his eternal nemesis.  
  
"Thank you, Sans." Ral said with noticeable relief in his voice.  
  
"no problem." Sans said as he sat down across the bar, he was probably listening in, but Ral didn't care.  
  
"I didn't want to leave the underground at that time, but I had a schedule I tried to adhere to, and it was time for me to see what other human technology I could find to bring back down. I left the caverns with a terrible feeling resting in my stomach." Ral narrated as he began to continue his story, a small smile came across his lips as he continued to the next part, "And then, number seven fell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hardest part of this fic once we got into the years of the game itself was figuring out how the timeline worked because the game never really gives you that sensation.
> 
> Post-Update: More dialogue splitting and changing the format when Papyrus interrupted to third person to keep it consistent, at first I wasn't sure how a perspective shift would look, but it looks a heck of a lot better than denoting a character cutting in by bolding the text.
> 
> One of the larger (despite being more subtle) changes I made was removing a few numbered years nearer the end, turning it from an exact number to leaving the ultimate amount of time between Asriel's death and the game starting about as ambiguous as the game does.


	11. To a Bright Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this started short and ended up spiraling out of control, to the point where it's the biggest single page in the fic by around a thousand words or so. Enjoy.

It was your turn, Frisk.  
  
It was getting later in the day when I saw a car drive up the mountainside roads, I heard a door slam and then the skid as they sped off.  
  
I don't want to imagine what they put you through, but at least now you have Toriel, and all the rest of your friends.  
  
I went to go try to scare you off, you may have been abandoned but better you run terrified through the woods than stumble into the underground, where you'd be sure to die, I thought. You walked with purpose though, by the time I got down there I couldn't find you, I only just barely caught a glimpse as you walked into a cave, and when I ran inside to check, you had already fallen down.  
  
I put my plans on hold and ran back to the barrier, through the throne room and not saying a word to Asgore.  
  
By the time I had intercepted your path, you were playing games with Sans and Papyrus. I sat aside and started to watch what you did, I would step in only if you were in serious danger, or if you started gathering up too much EXP.  
  
And you didn't.  
  
You refused to lift a finger of directed malice towards anyone, regardless of how hard they tried to kill you. You befriended the brothers, and Undyne, and Alphys. You befriended everyone and in the process killed monster-kind's motivation to wage war against humans if we got out.  
  
I was really surprised you befriended Undyne.  
  
You were in Hotland being yanked around by Alphys and Mettaton when I went to talk to Asgore about you, “Asgore, the seventh child is on their way here.”  
  
My words made him stop moving entirely, “How are they faring?”  
  
“Undyne and Papyrus both failed.” I said. His shoulders raised at that.  
  
“They...” He stated sadly, causing me to grimace, he was assuming the worst.  
  
“They befriended the kid.” His shoulders dropped in relief, “He hasn't even taken a wayward swat at a fly.”  
  
“Asgore... they won't fight back and they don't deserve it, everyone's fine with not breaking the barrier if it means this kid survives.” I may have been embellishing a bit, you'd made a lot of friends but you still hadn't met the majority of monster-kind who lived in the city, “You can still stop this!” I was pleading to him.  
  
“Ral... can you run to Snowdin and get me some ice cream?” The question came out of the blue, it was so innocuous, but it caused me to freeze because I realized instantly why he was asking it.  
  
“You... you don't want me to be here, do you? You want to fight them alone.” I thought on my words for a second, and my face contorted in horror “You don't intend to go at them with killing force, do you? You want to give them a chance to actually beat you even though they don't have any LOVE.”  
  
“I'm sorry.” He responded quietly. I couldn't think of what to say, or what to do. I left.  
  
As I walked down the judge's hallway hugging myself and thinking about what to do, I saw a short, stubby figure standing before me, “Sans.”  
  
“hey there, ral.” He said, he never dropped that smile, so I wasn't expecting what came next.  
  
“I S E E Y O U V E B E E N B U S Y” He said, his eyes going dark and his accent dropping.  
  
I stopped dead, my eyes widened and my arm dropped to my side.  
  
“Sans... what did I do in the last loop?” I asked, half-terrified. I could only assume that an action I had taken had been different from one I did in another timeline and it messed something up.  
  
I mentioned earlier that I know about the power to SAVE and LOAD, I wasn't being entirely honest with you there when I said I just knew.  
  
I had that power once myself, hence, I know about the messed up nature of time.  
  
It saved me from being outed when I was still human, when something went wrong and my cover was blown, and a few times times I died during my initial journey to Home, I would wake up where the previous day ended thinking it was a nightmare, the times through my journey where I was filled with determination.  
  
It's a power governed by determination beyond anything, I lost it when I transformed into a monster.  
  
“right, i forgot, you're in the same boat as me, you can't remember it, just piece together context and reactions.”  He said, his face going back to normal.  
  
“Sans, you know I hate it when you do that, not the face, that just scares me. I hate it when you know something I don't and stay cryptic about it, give me some answers.” He walked past me, sending a chill like I've never felt running down my spine.  
  
“you should go ahead and go to snowdin, wait until the clock strikes on the hour and start heading back, then they'll be here.” For someone who insists he can't look ahead and has to piece things together, he was very punctual with that prediction.  
  
“and hey.” He added, “take a good look at the kid's SOUL when you see them fight, if you see them fight, it's not supposed to be like that.” I hadn't caught any of your fights, now THAT worried me.  
  
He continued walking until he disappeared into one of his shortcuts, leaving me standing there alone, still frozen as thoughts raced through my head.  
  
I had made something go wrong with the timeline and I wasn't sure what, all I could do was take Sans' advice and head off.  
  
I went to Snowdin and sat there in Grillby's in silence until the clock struck the hour, then immediately stood and ran back to the capital.  
  
The time came, you had made it to New Home. What should I have done? Should I have helped you fight Asgore, or helped fight you with Asgore? Regardless of what happened I was either going to be complicit in the death of a child who most decidedly didn't deserve it, or I was going to lose my brother.  
  
There were strange vines clogging the elevator from the Core to New Home, I burned them and they screamed and retreated, I paused at the oddity for a second before I got in the elevator, then made a beeline to the throne room.  
  
I walked into the throne room and didn't see you, figuring you went up to the barrier I looked in there and saw Asgore getting torn into by Toriel, and all the rest of your friends jumping in to prevent the fight. I chose to stand against the outside wall and let it play out.  
  
...You look remorseful... I can probably guess, it took you a few tries to get those results, didn't it? Don't worry, I don't hold it against you, after all, this is the timeline that continued to exist, one where everyone is happy.  
  
All I remember is a harsh pull on Gorel's SOUL that knocked me out, then when I woke up, the barrier was gone, and you and your friends were all standing on the path outside the mountain. I snuck around a quicker path I knew about to meet Asgore as he walked down the trail, you and Toriel a little bit behind us.  
  
“So, a third path was shown to us, huh?” I said to him.  
  
“It was... thankfully.” He responded, the relief in his voice was noticeable.  
  
“What about the other six?” I said, glancing back towards the mountain.  
  
“Gone, I think they've probably moved on.” He said, looking up.  
  
“Probably for the better, I honestly didn't want to see what you would have become if you had actually achieved that SOUL-powered godhood.” I looked at him and gave a small smile, thankful it was over.  
  
“So what happens now?” I took a look back towards you and Toriel, I gave you two a smile but you were trailing behind her and you probably didn't see me, and she responded with a glare that made both of us pick up the pace.  
  
I couldn't blame her, still can't, really, the two of us did some pretty awful stuff.  
  
“I'm not sure, we re-establish contact with humans as friends instead of enemies, hopefully they'll listen.” Asgore said, looking over towards the sun as it set into night.  
  
“Humans... they've become more understanding since my age, I think we'll be fine. And besides, what we can't win in hearts, I think we can win in greed, do you have any idea how valuable gold is to humans these days?” I said, laughing.  
  
That's pretty much the end of the story, two weeks have passed since then, humans seem penitent for what happened and want to make amends, and construction on this little hamlet is proceeding smoothly.  
  
It's funny, isn't it? What started as a young idiot's moment of ignorance ended up with immortality, a family I wouldn't give up for the world, and a happy ending all around. Though I guess the third one's all on you.  
  
So... from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Frisk.  
  
Hm, I can't really think of anything else to say. Maybe next time you can be the one to tell me a story, I'd love to hear your take on your adventure, it'd look better on the shelf as an autobiography anyway.  
  
Well, thanks for listening to this old fool rattle on, Frisk. It's about time I go on, I'm going to try to beg for Toriel's forgiveness for my part in Asgore's plan, then maybe I can play matchmaker and get the two of them back together, they certainly have the incentive to work past their issues now.  
  
That's not weird, is it?  
  
What did I cause to happen to the timeline? I don't know, I can't look back to see what's different, take a look around and then tell me, Frisk, you'd probably have a better idea, right? Heh.  
  
And hey, Frisk?  
  
Tell your brother I said “Welcome back.” Okay?

* * *

  
  
"Well, there they go." Ralochs said as he watched Frisk head on his own way, after a second a gentle white glow began to come from his chest.  
  
"I can't help but notice you forgot something." A gruff voice rang out in the Boss Monster's head  
  
"Oh?" He said coyly as he looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone else that could hear him talking to himself.  
  
"Even when it was prudent, you didn't mention the part where I'm still a consciousness inside you, or the part where I decided some of your actions." Gorel said to his adopted son, the white glow of his SOUL pulsing in time with his words.  
  
"Eh, made me look better, old man." Ral responded with a chuckle, "Besides, how would I have explained it? Especially mentioning that it was technically you that took control to stop the third child and told me to get rid of my arm." There was a pregnant pause that made his smirk quickly turn to a frown at the lack of a response, "Right, sorry."  
  
"Well, either way, something about the way they looked at us, the glance in their eyes when you said that you took my SOUL, I think they knew." He responded.  
  
"Really? I wonder how. Oh well, some questions you probably don't want answers to." He said with a dismissive shrug, his thoughts wandering.

A few seconds of silence passed before Gorel broke it, "You're not going to tell them about that timeline either, are you?"  
  
Ral looked less than happy at those words, "No, if they don't remember then they don't need to."  
  
"You should be honest with them, and with me, you never told me what happened, you just woke up screaming the day before Frisk fell and I knew you'd come from a reset." Gorel stated firmly.  
  
Ralochs sighed loudly before recounting, "This isn't the first time we had this happy ending, though it's the first time I've made myself known and told my story. But that last time, there was something hanging over them, another presence that I'd never felt, it's what was driving them to violence, it wasn't Frisk. They nearly wiped us out."  
  
"They barely came back from the brink then, The Judge succeeded in deterring them?" The mental voice questioned.  
  
"Sans failed." Ral responded, his face contorted in pain as he reached up to his head with a grunt.  
  
"It takes determination to remember a bygone timeline, you don't have to continue." The tone of his voice grew worried for his son.  
  
"I'm fine." Ralochs dismissed before continuing, "I've always lied to Sans about my awareness of time travel, I can still remember those deleted timelines with some pain and effort, I just can't SAVE or LOAD without killing myself. The second Sans became serious I immediately had to look back at what happened, despite the pain." He frowned, looking less than happy to be remembering, "Asgore was cut down, we were the last ones standing in their way."  
  
"And what did you do?" Gorel said, cutting in.  
  
Ral just gave a weak, bitter chuckle, "I started trying to reset time even though it would destroy me for good, all the while focusing so hard that the determination I had to call on caused me to melt. I screamed Frisk's name, yelling at them to not let it win, to not forget that Toriel was their new mother, Asgore treated them like his child, I screamed at them about their friends and the perfect life they'd made on the surface, about their entire journey."  
  
"Ral..." Gorel said.  
  
A smile came to Ral's face as he continued, "And they heard me, that rosy smile turned back into a neutral expression as they beat it back and joined me in resetting everything before I was too far gone, and I pray to God that when Frisk's SOUL won out and reset from the beginning that they forgot that timeline happened. Though, I don't think they did." He said, his expression turning into a frown.  
  
The lingering silence spoke for Gorel's opinion on the situation. Eventually Ral broke the silence with a sigh before speaking, "Still, they're not going to reset again."  
  
"You sound confident saying that." He responded.  
  
"That struggle I caused them to undergo when I pleaded for them to remember this timeline where everyone is happy, I think they definitively expelled that foreign influence that caused them to be so violent, and that same influence was probably what caused them to reset the best outcome the first time. They had to go through their journey without killing anyone a second time, with all the hardships that entailed, but they got us here." A sudden smile came to his face as he looked out the window, "And without that influence controlling them, they even found a way to do the impossible."  
  
"Anything is possible in this life." Gorel cut in, causing Ral to purse his lips.  
  
"Did you just steal my quote?" He shook his head before continuing, "When they won us this ending the first time, I thought the timeline was set in stone, it would happen this way and only ever this way, but something about rejecting that presence and their determination, it created a ripple in continuity. When Frisk took their body back and reset from that attempt at wiping us all out, they went far back, much farther than they should have been able to, and then... then..." Tears started falling down the monster's face, "They found a way to return our prince to us alive."  
  
"You're crying again." The mental voice said teasingly.  
  
"Shut up, you are too." Ral said as he started wiping at his face.  
  
"I don't have eyes." He deadpanned.  
  
"Your tears are my tears, you're making me cry harder, stop usurping control over me, old man." The scholar said half-jokingly as the tears slowed down.

"Besides, I think you might have helped with that." The voice added in.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ral said, closing his eyes to listen.  
  
"I think your resets combined and sent Frisk much farther back than the start of their journey in at least some capacity, physical or spiritual, and they were there to save Asriel's SOUL from disappearing. That's why the first time, when you never made yourself known, they weren't able to bring him back. It wasn't intentional, but your presence alone helped." Gorel responded, getting a weak chuckle from the monster.  
  
"Is that so?" Ral said as he put his hand to his chin in thought,  "That's... a pretty good theory, and it would explain why Sans was so pissed at me when we met up this time around, my actions must have created a timeline he hadn't seen occur before. Still, I think this one was for the better." He let the silence sit for a moment before eventually speaking up again, "Ah, I get it."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Sans told me to look at Frisk's SOUL, but I never got the chance before Asriel returned to us, I bet it looked like ours and that's what tripped him up." He closed his eyes as he felt his SOUL pulse, the larger, upright red heart with a smaller, upside down grey heart resting in the middle of it, "He saw a monster SOUL nested in a human's."  
  
A few more minutes passed in silence before Gorel spoke again, "So, begging Toriel for forgiveness and trying to get them back together, really?" His tone was more than a little teasing.  
  
"Hey, you know you want them back together as much as I do. Disagreement aside, they're perfect for one another." Ral responded, thinking back about the life the two used to live with a sigh.  
  
"Fair enough." He responded.  
  
"Well, onwards we go, to a future nobody knows, but damn if it doesn't look bright. And here I am, happy to be an onlooker as eternity passes around me, ever ready to write about it." Ralochs said as he produced a book and reached down to begin writing in it.  
  
_“Dear Diary: The world is full of hope, everyone has a happy ending, Toriel will be opening a school in the city within the next few months, if I can get her to forgive me and Asgore, I'll see about becoming a librarian there._  
  
_Frisk has truly won us a miracle, not just freedom, peace and acceptance, but somehow, they returned Asriel to us alive and whole._  
  
_Things couldn't be any better._  
  
_-Ralochs.”_  
  
Ral looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow before calling out across the bar, "Hey Grillby! How about a burger and a last will and testament, because I'm fairly sure Toriel's going to murder me." He said as he closed the journal, then blinked, "Oh yeah, dad, that reminds me."  
  
"Of what?" Gorel responded.  
  
"You're conscious even when I'm not, right? Who did save me when I lost my arm?" He questioned.  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, son." Gorel said as he succumbed to a hard laughing fit, eventually he settled down enough to mimic a very telltale noise “hOI!!!!”  
  
Ralochs blinked twice, his jaw dropping in shock, "You've gotta be _kidding me!"_

* * *

  
  
You smiled as you headed home, looking forward to dinner, Toriel had finally picked up that you aren't quite used to snails yet so you were actually going to have some real(?) food.  
  
Ralochs' story was still burning in your mind, especially the part where he mentioned the timeline shifting. You remembered what he was talking about, and were thankful that he seemed to not.  
  
You still remember the sad smile on that half-melted creature's face as everything faded back to the start, it looked so unlike him you didn't piece two and two together until near the end of his story.  
  
As you walked up to the house, the door opened wide, “Frisk!” Asriel called out as he ran out and hugged you. He was a hugger, that's just who he was, you'd grown used to it by this point, and you didn't mind, he was warm, though he had a tendency to scratch you.  
  
“There you are, my child.” Toriel said as she stepped out too, “I suppose you were listening to Asgore's little yes-man rambling again?” You scratched the back of your neck and cracked a bit of a smile, he didn't exactly seem like a yes-man to you after hearing what he went through, but it was still nicer than what she referred to him as last night.  
  
You'd didn't even know that was a word that could be used to describe a living creature.  
  
“I want to go see Uncle Ral too, I didn't even know he was around!” Asriel added.  
  
Toriel just sighed, “Well, if you want to, I'll let you go see him tomorrow, but for now, dinner.”  
  
Asriel nodded at that, “Okay, mom.” He looked at you and smiled as the three of you walked back into your house.  
  
Toriel glanced at the phone which was glowing from a missed call, “Your father called again.” She didn't want to dismiss him in front of you two, but the sigh was still in her tone, “I suppose it's not right of me to not at least humor him.”  
  
You couldn't help but reflect as you ate dinner, it was such a hard-won fight to be able to live in this world where everyone, even Asriel, lived. But it was worth every hardship.  
  
You came back from the edge of oblivion  
By a last minute plea to your senses  
And in doing such  
It gave you what you always wanted  
A happy ending.  
  
Looking at the life ahead of you, it filled you determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions, answers, confusion and clarity.
> 
> Of course, if you throw a pebble in a pond it causes a small splash that ripples out a little. If you throw a brick, it'll probably reach the other side.
> 
> Okay, breaking away from the mystic woogly garbage, I had a lot of fun writing the twists at the end and I feel like they were sensible enough. And yes, the fic was going to end as an Asriel fix-fic from the start, however there's going to be quite the journey behind that one.
> 
> I'm still filled with inspiration and I'm not done yet.
> 
> Post-Update notes: Jesus Christ, so in keeping with the changes I'm doing about doing a perspective shift on present-day parts instead of just carrying on the narration, I ultimately wound up rewriting over half of this chapter to be in third person for the last major bulk of the story dialogue. Still, I think it looks much, much better like this.
> 
> Also, it amuses me on some level that this single chapter shifts through all three major perspectives


End file.
